Sausage Party: Directed by Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernan, Starring: Seth Rogan and Kristen Wiig8/13/2016 As Finding Dory is about mental illness and The Incredibles is about a midlife crisis, Sausage Party is about the modern world that we live in. That’s both calling attention to the fact that the supermarket, the place the movie mostly takes place in with a bunch of talking food as our heroes, acts as kind of the real “Earth” in the movie, with its own interesting and understandable geography, and also the views of the foods in the market. See, while it is a lowbrow comedy, Sausage Party has its eyes set on very lofty ideas including religion, racism, sexism, and the journey of self-fulfillment that all exist in the world. This is Disney fare with big boy pants on, and the fact that it’s just as genuine and earnest as those films is what works completely about Sausage Party. See, the food characters of Sausage Party, including: Frank (Seth Rogan), Brenda (Kristen Wiig), Barry (Michael Cera), near the beginning of the film all hold a blissful ignorance, almost as if they are just repressed souls desperately attempting to make it in a system that limits their ability to really enjoy life. This creates a melancholy sense to their characters that is only complimented by the feelings of dread that the story ultimately creates, but also slyly makes the raunchy humor of the film really work. Sausage Party is nowhere near close to understated, so when all this racy, uncomfortable, and just overall upsetting stuff happens the earnest nature of the characters makes up for it. As the jokes get more ridiculous and raunchy we start to understand it as less of the comedians just throwing jokes into the movie for the sake of jokes, but more character informed stuff. Sure, not all the jokes land (a lot of racial humor shouldn’t be that funny, but the movie through design choices actually overwrites this) but Frank, Brenda, and Barry aren’t just cracking all these jokes because it’s a comedic film. They are doing so because they need to stay emotionally stable. This creates a tone that perfectly fits the more disturbing fare that the film’s story offers, and sets everything up perfectly for the final act. This is no place for spoilers, but it’s simply one of the most satisfying endings of any film for the whole year. The gonzo action of the third act and the implications that it creates are almost fully fueled by the sympathy that comes with the food’s feelings, while also being an excellent irreverent blowout. There’s a literal orgy of evidence for why the foods are now able to enjoy life and it’s deliciously gratifying. For all the focus placed on dirty jokes, Sausage Party has the type of emotional depth in its characters that is only present in films from the Disney house, only it’s bolstered by the “R” rating. Sausage Party serves up the best animated film of the year, and a hearty helping of brain food about the world that we live in. Sausage Party gets a 9 out of 10.
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December 2017
CategoriesAuthorHello welcome to FilmAnalyst. My name is Stephen Tronicek, and I really like movies. This is a way to get my opinions out to people. Thank you for visiting. |