Movie review: “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs”
The animated family film “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” is the equivalent of cinematic fast food. But in a good way.
It’s speedy, fun and reasonably satisfying – especially in 3-D – but watching it three times a day wouldn’t be advisable for your health. And while it may lack much in the way of true substance, kids will gobble it up.
The film is based on Judi Barrett’s 1978 children’s book. I’ve never read it, but probably will check it out now.
The movie follows Flint Lockwood (voice of Tulsa native Bill Hader), a geeky aspiring inventor in the island hamlet of Swallow Falls, which has been devastated by the closure of its main business, a sardine cannery. The shuttering of the cannery means the entire populace is forced to eat sardines for virtually every meal, which seems to gross out virtually everyone except Flint’s taciturn dad (James Caan), a widower who owns a bait shop.
Flint wants to help his community with its fishy issue, so he devises a machine that transforms water into food. In a freak accident, the machine is catapulted into space above the community, so that rainstorms shower down cheeseburgers and ice cream (rather than snow) accumulates in scrumptious drifts.
The town’s opportunistic mayor (Bruce Campbell) decides to harness Flint’s ability to program the type of food that is created and turn Swallows Falls into an all-you-can-eat vacation resort called Chewandswallow.
Sam Sparks (Anna Faris), the perky blonde weather channel intern with the heart of a nerd, gets the story of the lifetime and strikes up a budding romance with Flint.
Of course, as the film teaches, excess has its consequences, and the town’s constant demands for ever more and increasingly decadent food eventually overtaxes Flint’s machine. It goes haywire, causing a visually striking spaghetti tornado and meatball hail to rain down on the island. Flint, Sam and pals must jet into space to shut down the machine in a frenetic, funny and often goofy finale.
A Sony Pictures Animation project, the movie can’t compare to the grandeur of the Pixar films. It’s more along the lines of the first “Ice Age” film, offering carefree fun with a great vocal cast. “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” has wonderful actors even in small roles, including Neil Patrick Harris as the voice of Flint’s pet monkey Steve, who wears a device that translates his thoughts, and Mr. T as a tough but hyperactive cop.
Plus, “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” makes strong use of its 3-D capabilities, rocketing cuisine ranging from pancakes to steaks at the audience.
-BAM
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