“Sausage Party” is the film equivalent of jangling keys in front of a baby’s face for entertainment, or to put that in modern terms: an Adam Sandler movie.

The first widely-released computer-generated cartoon with an R rating, “Sausage Party” pitches itself as a debaucherous sex comedy about anthropomorphised food items in a grocery store as they learn their lot in life is to be eaten, not ascend to a sexual paradise.

Sadly, much like the sexy hotdog bun Brenda (Kristen Wiig), this film has next to no nutritional value and as a result it does its best to distract the audience from catching on to that.

The film seems to think only four topics are inherently funny simply because a cartoon food product is making the joke: sex, drugs, food puns and references to real-world racial tensions.

Amongst the four writers of “Sausage Party” there was a smorgasbord of hilarious potential for parody and satire using this foul-mouthed sex comedy as a front for genuinely funny humor.

Instead we get a Nazi bottle of sauerkraut calling for the extermination of all juice, a box of grits complaining about crackers taking over his aisle, a Jewish bagel and a Muslim lavash arguing constantly and a Native American bottle of whiskey named Firewater.

It’s worth noting I am not inherently turned off by racial humor. When done correctly, comedy can cover just about any topic well, and I have seen racist stereotypes elevated from derogatory to enlightening societal commentary in better films.

With four talented comedy writers behind the wheel, I expect something far better than an Indian stereotype chanting “hey how are you” in the same manner that one would expect from a comedy shot in the 1940s. If one wants to resurrect a long-dead joke, at least make it funny.

If I had a bigger word count I’d delve into how the movie is one of the most ham-fisted attempts at bashing organized religion and spreading atheist views I’ve ever seen, how the literal douche antagonist (Nick Kroll) exists purely to set up a lame dick joke in the third act, but I don’t have the space or time.

Suffice it to say: references are not jokes, they’re simply references.

The movie-going public seemed to realize this around the time movies such as “Not Another Teen Movie” and “Meet the Spartans” went from comedy box-office juggernauts to flaccid wastes of money.

“Sausage Party” hopes upon hope viewers have forgotten the difference between understanding a reference and hearing an actual joke.

If simply hearing about sex, drugs, religion, racism and swearing counts as comedy to you, Sausage Party is worth your time.

If you want to actually have fun with talking food, go watch the train wreck that is 2014’s “Foodfight!”

(1.5/5 stars)