Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs

Released: 2009

MPAA rating: PG

Run time: 1:30

"Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" is based on an extremely popular children's book that is after my time, but has apparently been around long enough for the 20ish year old cashier at Wal-Mart to say "Oh, I loved that book!" (Amusing side story: Apparently, when you go to Wal-Mart wth two kids and purchase boxed candy and soda, EVERYONE knows you are going to the movies! Both the woman in front of us and the cashier said "Are you going to the movies?") The movie tells the tale of Flint Lockwood (Bill Hader) who, ever since he was a child, has been dreaming of making inventions that would change the world. When his small island town of Swallow Falls is hit with an economic downturn (the island's main export is sardines and the world has realized that sardines are just gross), he invents a machine that converts water to food. Just as he is about to introduce it to the town, it receives too much power and is launched into the atmosphere. Flint is devastated that his big debut is ruined. However, the next day, Swallow Falls is hit with cheeseburgers raining from the sky. Flint's invention is more successful than he can ever imagine. At his control room, he can dictate exactly what food the machine will create and he becomes the town's savior. Of course, sometimes too much food could be a bad thing and, as the town continues to be pelted with food, Flint loses control of the machine, which is now poised to bury the entire world in food. Flint must race to disable the machine. The movie was very entertaining. It was very funny at times, including a great comedic performance by Mr. T, who plays the town policeman (the only town policeman, it seems). There are some moral overtones about gluttony and unintended consequences, but it is not even remotely preachy. The kids in attendance definitely loved the movie. I also liked it a lot. My only minor critique is in the final third, when Flint is trying to shut down the machine, there are way too many instances where he is about to succeed, only to have something go wrong at the last second. Sure, it's not a bad plot device, but I think it was used two too many times. The 3-D effects were fantastic, but it did pass my "3-D test": Would the movie stand on its own without the 3D? The answer is absolutely yes. This is a great movie outing for the family and is one of those animated movies that parents will not mind being "dragged to".

Grade: B

Trailer: