Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Plot

The most delicious event since macaroni met cheese. Inspired by the beloved children's book, the film focuses on a town where food falls from the sky like rain.

Release Year: 2009

Rating: 7.0/10 (43,234 voted)

Critic's Score: 66/100

Director:
Phil Lord

Stars: Anna Faris, Bill Hader, Bruce Campbell

Storyline
Flint Lockwood thinks he's a genius. But none of the things he invented are things that make sense or are useful. However, he has the support of his mother but when she dies, he's left alone with his father who thinks he should give it up. When the community that he lives in, is in an economic crisis because their primary source of income a sardine cannery was shut down, Flint decides to try his latest invention, a machine that can turn water into food. But something goes wrong and the machine ends up in the atmosphere. Later it starts raining food. And so the shifty mayor tries to use this as a way to help their community. But when Flint sense something's wrong with the machine, the mayor convinces him to ignore it. But as Flint predict chaos ensues.

Writers: Phil Lord, Chris Miller

Cast:

Bill Hader
–

Flint Lockwood

(voice)

Anna Faris
–

Sam Sparks

(voice)

James Caan
–

Tim Lockwood

(voice)

Andy Samberg
–

'Baby' Brent

(voice)

Bruce Campbell
–

Mayor Shelbourne

(voice)

Mr. T
–

Earl Devereaux

(voice)

Bobb'e J. Thompson
–

Cal Devereaux

(voice)

Benjamin Bratt
–

Manny

(voice)

Neil Patrick Harris
–

Steve

(voice)

Al Roker
–

Patrick Patrickson

(voice)

Lauren Graham
–

Fran Lockwood

(voice)

Will Forte
–

Joe Towne

(voice)

Max Neuwirth
–

Young Flint

(voice)

Peter Siragusa
–

Rufus

(voice)

Angela Shelton
–

Regina Devereaux

(voice)

Taglines:
Prepare to get served

Details

Official Website:
Sony Pictures [France] |
Sony Pictures [Japan] |

Release Date: 18 September 2009

Box Office Details

Budget: $100,000,000

(estimated)

Opening Weekend: $30,304,648
(USA)
(20 September 2009)
(3119 Screens)

Gross: $124,870,275
(USA)
(24 January 2010)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Did You Know?

Trivia:

When Flint is in his lab "visualizing" with the 3-D holographic images, he's wearing glasses with red and blue lenses. The glasses are a nod to the original 3-D movies from the 1950s to the late 1990s which required glasses with red and blue lenses in order to make the 3-D effect. Nowadays, movies such as
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs use a different form of 3-D technology that uses "polarized" rather than colored lenses.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes:
The radar screen on the portable Doppler radar sweeps counterclockwise. It should be clockwise.

Quotes:

[first lines]

Flint Lockwood:
Have you ever felt like you were a little bit different? Like you had something unique to offer the world, if you could just get people to see it. Then you know exactly how it felt to be me.

User Review

Surprisingly imaginative, original and very funny

Rating: 8/10


Living in the UK, I had never heard of the children's book Cloudy with
a Chance of Meatballs and to be honest, I thought it sounded a little
too peculiar and odd for my tastes going by the title and trailers.
However, being a big fan of animated movies, I decided to take the risk
and judge the movie for myself; and I'm so glad I did.

Not only does Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs have a quirky,
thoughtful and imaginative storyline, it also exudes humour through its
likable characters, discerning messages and vivid visual style. Telling
the tale of a young man's quest to become an inventor, the film shies
away from numerous Disney clichés creating a unique and original world
full of colour and inspired characters. Unlike most Dreamworks
animations, the characters are fully developed and rounded without the
need for countless A-list celebrity voice-overs. The screenplay is
similarly outstanding in terms of humour with countless laugh-out-loud
moments that will appeal to both adults and children alike.

The animation and visual style of the film isn't up to the stunning
beauty of the latest Pixar movies such as Ratatouille or WALL-E but it
certainly exudes a similar level of ingeniousness, creativity and
originality as seen in such movies. Albeit, amongst the wild plot and
genuinely hilarious dialogue lies a subtle moral tale of parental
recognition, portion sizes and personal confidence.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs took me by surprise, I went into the
cinema expecting an average computer generated movie incomparable with
today's best of the genre and came out astonished by the sheer
creativity oozing from every aspect of the film.

8/10.