Clear forecast for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

By Christi Vasquez     9/17/09 7:00pm

With spaghetti tornadoes and ice-creamed neighborhoods, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs succeeds in making an entertaining 90-minute movie from a book that takes, at best, five minutes to read. While the plot of the film wildly diverges from Judi and Ron Barrett's best-selling children's book, audiences won't be disappointed with the changes.Flint Lockwood (voiced by Bill Hader of "Saturday Night Live") is an aspiring inventor living in the island town of Swallow Falls. His streak of failed inventions leads him to create something that would benefit the town as a whole: a machine that turns water molecules into food, a necessity since the town has been forced to eat sardines after their industry took a turn for the worse. This invention, however, is yet another addition to Flint's list of failures. After things go awry and Flint's machine ruins the town's tourism prospects, it is shot into the sky, where, to the town's surprise, it results in showers of cheeseburgers, pancakes and other foods.

A coincidence leads perky weathercaster Sam Sparks (Observe and Report's Anna Faris) to be on the island during these bizarre weather patterns. When she and Flint meet, love ensues, leading to Flint's romantic, if not so grand, gesture of making Sam her own personal Jell-O castle. Hader and Faris have genuine chemistry in this film, expertly delivering jokes that cater to both children and adults and spreading the comedic wealth.

But the talent doesn't stop with Hader and Faris. Andy Samberg, Hader's fellow "SNL" buddy, voices the bully and first son of Swallow Falls, "Baby" Brent, and Mr. T (Rocky III) gives the voice to the high-strung policeman Earl Devereaux, who unsuccessfully tries to put a stop to Flint's shenanigans. Other voice actors include Neil Patrick Harris ("How I Met Your Mother"), Benjamin Bratt ("The Cleaner") and Al Roker ("The Today Show") voicing a (predictably) smarmy weatherman.

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Meatballs stays true to the general idea of the book, but a few changes are easily evident, particularly at the end of the film. This is where some older audience members might get lost and confused, whether fans of the book or not. As far-fetched as ham hail and salt-and-pepper wind may sound, the climax of the movie is even more outrageous. When the machine starts spewing out enormous food items, Flint tries to stop it, only to encounter numerous barriers, including gigantic, hostile rotisserie chickens and warrior gummy bears. Younger viewers most likely will enjoy this, but after taking an hour or so of edibles falling from the sky, more mature imaginations are uncomfortably stretched to the limit.

Another notable difference from the book, other than the plot changes, is the animation style. Using Sony's state-of-the-art animatiom-rendering software, the film casts off the limitations of the original, hand-drawn illustrations of Ron Barrett to bring Cloudy up to par with the animation technology of films from Pixar and DreamWorks. It also allows the film to be shown in 3-D at select theaters.

Undeniably beautiful, the film's animation alone can keep even the tiniest tot's (or skeptical teenager's) attention thoroughly engaged. At times, this cutting-edge animation can be a bit overwhelming, especially in 3-D, though if anything, it only adds to the magical idea of food weather.

This is definitely a film for all ages. For a movie geared toward kids, the script has insanely clever moments that will leave everyone smiling. Not only visually stunning, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs has a great voice cast and something that can bring everyone in the world together: free food falling from the sky. Catch it in 3-D for an even tastier experience. It's worth the extra buck or so.

To watch the trailer or read more about the film, visit www.cloudywithachanceofmeatballs.com.

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