Sausage Party (Brockway)

Tropic Sprockets by Ian Brockway

Sausage Party

Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill, the bad boys of comedy, have come up with some irreverent goods in "Sausage Party" directed by Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan. This is an adult animated film about the feelings of prefab meat in a grocery store and if you can accept the bizarre premise, the film is free-wheeling in its wildness and eye-poppingly subversive. Better yet, this frenetic and feverish film never stoops to apologize.

The story concerns Frank (Seth Rogen) a foul mouthed hot dog at a grocery store. Frank dreams of being selected on the shelf and taken to the outside world to live in eternity with his curvy hot dog bun girlfriend, Brenda (Kristen Wiig) The entire store has high hopes of being selected and taken to live with gods, (the humans) happily ever after.

But things are not as they appear. While at first look the story seems simplistic, the film is decidedly not. The hot dogs discuss everything from sex to religion and world affairs and you will be laughing all the way.

The villain is Douche (Nick Kroll ) a feminine hygiene product with a score to settle.

The best of the film are the jokes about religion that are as pointed as they are glib, reminiscent of Bill Maher.

There is also a strikingly funny friendship between Kareem, (David Krumholtz), a slice of Middle Eastern lavash bread, and Sammy (Edward Norton), a bagel. Kareem wants to be united with extra virgin olive oil in the Great Beyond, while Sammy in a Woody Allen voice argues for harmony on earth between nations by way of their mutual friend, Hummus.

Much of the film has to be seen to be believed. Suffice to say that hearing a googly-eyed hot dog utter streams of profanity will put one in stitches, not to mention the blunt sexual mores of Salma Hayek as Teresa the taco shell and those  aforementioned  buns. Fortunately, despite the fleshy pinkness of the jokes that are spotted blue, the humor is never mean-spirited.

There is a battle scene involving a few humans that is less provocative, but if you hang in there, the pièce de résistance is a no nitrates barred sex scene that gives new meaning to the popular phrase "food porn." While it is somewhat flat during the action sequences, the story works very well as a riotous send-up of all things Pixar and its unexpurgated barbs about religion and relationships go a long way.

While one may not want to take this kaleidoscopic and invective-infused film to go for a romantic evening, the fearlessness of the roles alone make "Sausage Party" a bawdy matinee choice in place of a chaste lunch.

Write Ian at ianfree1@yahoo.com