Sony Pictures Animation | USA | 90 mins
I’ve been taught over the years to not expect much from animated films that don’t have the Pixar stamp on them. One after another they are made specifically for mass commercial appeal, and one after another they completely miss the mark and are brutally compared to Pixar classics. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs easily and confidently makes the statement that although Pixar may be the prettiest girl at prom — They’re here to compete.
Modeled after the 1978 book by Jodi Barrett, Sony Pictures Animation builds a Hollywood quality back-story to the thin storyline of the children’s book and pushes it out, just like all the cool kids do it, in 3-D. Flint Lockwood (voice by Bill Hader) has always had dreams of being a successful inventor and is constantly coming up with crazy inventions that usually end up in disaster for his small hometown of Swallow Falls, and no one appreciates his passion or “contribution” to society — You are crazy if you don’t see the value in rat-bird hybrids.
The invention that takes center stage for our Hero is a water to food conversion machine. “Water goes in the top and food comes out the bottom,” he innocently states about his next attempt to break into academic stardom. After an unexpected accident while trying to give the machine enough power for a proper test, the invention shoots into the clouds in the sky and begins raining food down on the small town of Swallow Falls. Lockwood finally attains the popularity he has always desired and even wins the favor of a weather girl (Anna Faris) sent to the island to cover the phenomenon.
What lessons would kids learn if there wasn’t some sort of struggle to overcome though? Cue the inevitable spoiling of Lockwood’s fame and begin the raining on his parade — literally with giant corn on the cob, pancakes and spaghetti tornadoes. The over ambitious mayor forces Flint to keep using the machine in the hopes of creating a new tourist market for the island, and the machine eventually overloads and world wide giant-food-falling-from-the-sky chaos ensues.
What brings this film out of a Saturday morning cartoon slot is the really consistent comedy by How I Met Your Mother producer and writer combo Phil Lord and Chris Miller. Lord and Miller adapted the screenplay and directed the film together producing a tightly knit family-comedy. The voice cast in addition to Hader and Faris is a lot of fun as well with parts by Bruce Campbell, Mr. T and James Caan.
Saturated with subtle visual jokes and easily missed details, there is never a moment without something to smile about. The script is very witty and well crafted giving the kids as well as the parents something to chew on.
The characters aren’t particularly deep, the plot is pretty silly and somethings don’t make any sense but if you can be 6-years-old again, let adult logic take a break and just laugh you will definitely find something to enjoy in Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs. At a minimum you can enjoy your kids laughing at the childhood fantasy of a snow day out of school because large scoops of ice-cream fell from the sky. Imagine what it’s like to have the imagination of a kid again and know that “you may have seen a meteor shower, but you’ve never seen a meatier shower than this.”
7 out of 10