Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Movie Review
"Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs"
Review by Eric D. Snider
Grade: A-
Rating: PG
Released: Friday, September 18, 2009
Directed by:
Cast:
The book "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" has been delighting children for 31 years now with its tall tale of a town called Chewandswallow where it rains food. But readers have often wondered: How did the town come to be this way? What led to this bizarre change in the weather patterns? Was global warming involved?
No, I kid. No one has wondered this. Nonetheless, the animated "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" film explains the origins of Chewandswallow's peculiar precipitation, and darned if it isn't a thoroughly enjoyable answer to a question nobody asked. Written and directed by the team of Phil Lord and Chris Miller (creators of MTV's "Clone High"), "Cloudy" is almost relentlessly energetic and loony, bursting with random sight gags and subtle, whip-smart comedy. It's only in the last act that it sags a little under the weight of its insane plot, but barely enough to hurt it.
On a small Atlantic island called Swallow Falls lives a would-be inventor named Flint Lockwood (voice of Bill Hader) who hopes to solve the town's problems. You see, Swallow Falls was once the capital of the sardine industry, until the rest of the world realized that sardines are gross and stopped eating them. Now the locals are left with no major industry and, what's worse, a surplus of sardines that they have no choice but to eat themselves. Everything in town is sardine-based.
Flint has built a machine that he thinks will turn water into food, which would fix the food problem and make the town world-famous to boot. Meanwhile, the fatuous mayor (Bruce Campbell) has spent all the town's money on a sardine-based theme park, hoping to boost tourism and civic pride that way. Brent (Andy Samberg), who as an infant was the face of the town's largest sardine company (think Gerber baby), doesn't want to let sardinism go, either, since it's his only claim to fame and he still lives off the royalties. Flint's father, Tim (James Caan), runs a bait shop and thinks his son is weird.
Aided (sort of) by a monkey named Steve (Neil Patrick Harris) that's been fitted with a device to translate his thoughts, Flint tests his food-making machine outdoors and accidentally launches it into the stratosphere. Next thing you know, it's sucking in clouds and turning their precipitation into hamburgers (complete with condiments!). Thanks to news coverage by junior reporter Sam Sparks (Anna Faris) -- a brilliant young woman who has to fake being dumb to fit in on TV news -- Swallow Falls is soon internationally known. And the residents are thrilled to be eating so well! (Flint can control the machine from his laboratory and make it produce specific foods to order. The science there is not clear, but go with it.)
But never mind the story, and the complications that result when the town gets too greedy for more (and bigger) food. The film's hilarity comes from its wide cast of ancillary characters, many of them nameless, who pop up to deliver an odd line or two then disappear again. I love the local cop (Mr. T), with bulging Popeye arms, who literally bounces all over town looking for criminals and can sense danger: "My chest hairs are tingling!" (He calls Flint a "shenaniganizer" and a "tomfool," too, which makes him OK in my book.) There's Steve the monkey, most of whose thoughts translate into simply saying his own name. There's the shrewd satire of TV news, embodied by Sam's condescending anchorman, Patrick Patrickson (Al Roker). The sight of Baby Brent clinging to the fame of his infancy by making public appearances and repeating his catchphrase is always funny. Flint and Sam's nerdy romance is cute.
This is only the third film to come from Sony Pictures Animation, after "Open Season" and "Surf's Up," and it's a huge step forward from those so-so efforts. The inventive, fast-paced humor is aimed at adults as much as kids but is accessible to everyone, and it's sharp without being cynical. There's also a sweet father-and-son story for Flint and his dad woven into the lunacy, to give the whole goofy affair just a little bit of weight. It's a nice final touch on a very funny film.
Grade: A-
Rated PG, mild crude humor
1 hr., 30 min.
Copyright © Eric D. Snider.
This work may not be transmitted via the Internet, nor reproduced in any other way, without written consent from Eric D. Snider.
This item has 13 comments
October 23, 2009 at 8:25 am
I took my young children to see this in 3D and we all had a good time. And the mayor is definitely "fatuous."
October 23, 2009 at 8:59 pm
Cloudy was great but Up still wins by a landslide.
October 24, 2009 at 10:24 pm
Yes! I was wondering when you were going to get around to reviewing Cloudy! I was totally and unexpectedly enamored with this movie and a small part of me was curious to see what rating you might give it, since I tend to agree with a lot of your reviews. I loved this movie!
October 26, 2009 at 1:17 pm
I guess that makes this the second animated movie this year featuring an animal with a thought-vocalizing device.
November 7, 2009 at 1:06 am
This was great. I saw it with my young son (4 years old), and it got a bit too intense for him.
I laughed almost continuously throughout, even though I was the only one in the theater who seemed to think it was particularly funny. This also happened when I saw Zoolander, so I think I tend to see movies with idiots.
January 5, 2010 at 8:03 pm
I thought the movie was a tad overcooked. Too cheesy.
January 11, 2010 at 11:01 pm
Jeremy made a funny. Hee!
June 21, 2010 at 7:30 pm
This movie was so retarded!!! I mean,come on,Sony Pictures Animation! Are you guys trying to teach our kids how to be obese?! Huh?! Sorry. On with the review. I won't give you the plot,because you should know what it's about. But anyway,I hated this movie,because the characters were annoying and always being a nuisance,such as Flint,Mayor Shelbourne,Brent,Steve,and the news anchorman.But the cop was FAR from annoying. Instead he was funny,wisecracking,and entertaining.Flint was so annoying because his big eyes are always close-up,he doesn't listen to anybody especially when his dad and his love interest,Sam Sparks tells him to turn the machine off,and he's selfish and ignorant.The mayor,however,wants to pile and shove food in his mouth,especially with a hot dog with doughnuts and ice cream which is a real choking hazard and talks while he's eating it.That's just rude to talk with a pile of food in your mouth and it's not safe.And who the hell eats a hot dog with doughnuts and ice cream.Is he stupid? Thar's why he's so fat!!! Brent likes to rip his shirt off all the time and we see him half-naked.Why the hell is he wearing a diaper when he's a damn adult? I told you this movie was retarded. It's like the animators were drunk while they did this movie. And another thing,if man-eating chickens were following me,I would run for my life. And in the ice cream scene,Flint throws ice cream snowballs violently like he took drugs or something. In another scene,there's a restaurant with no roof when huge steaks are falling from the sky. WTF? What were the animators thinking when they were making this shit? There's a Big Lipped Alligator Moment when Flint and Sam are about to kiss each other in the jello castle[Bigged Lipped Alligator Moment is from Nostalgia Critic].What's the point? This isn't supposed to be a love story! I hate Sony Pictures Animation. Sony's not even trying to make animation phenomenal. They make unrealistic and bland animation.And there making a Smurfs remake by Sony Pictures Animation with CGI animation with live action in 2011? You got another thing coming,Sony. I wouldn't even spit to see Smurfs The Movie.Who would eat food off as soon as it hits the ground anyway? This movie's just gross. This movie's plot is so weak. Go see Despicable Me in July. That's a more apporopiate,inventive,and creative movie for the whole family.And it's an interesting movie than Cloudy. Those yellow minions are so adorable I could just hug them right now!It has an interesting plot, because a man tries to steal the moon and tries to outsmart another villian and gets sidetracked when he has to take care of three orphan girls.Also it has BETTER animation than Cloudy.Why can't July 9th be here already so I can see this wonderful movie?! I anm so excited to see it!!!It's going to be good. Anyway,I give Cloudy/Chance of Meatballs 1/10 for poor acting,animation,plot,and ANNOYING characters.
June 21, 2010 at 9:20 pm
Really? You wouldn't even spit to see the smurfs? I would spit for a lot less.
June 21, 2010 at 9:23 pm
Wow. Is that person a marketer? I fear for the world.
June 22, 2010 at 11:15 am
Ahahahahahahahahahahaha! Thanks, Eric, for the heads up on Brittany's...uh...review. I might have to click on her name before you delete her post and see what other unintentional hilarity she has to offer the world.
Kids...this is why you need to stay off the drugs and stay in school.
June 22, 2010 at 2:31 pm
It's fake. It's too moronic to be real.
August 27, 2010 at 11:08 am
My 2 boys and I bought this movie and we were not disappointed. I would highly suggest getting this movie if you are looking for a clean and fun movie for a family night.