The title Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs sounds off-the-wall, corny, and squarely aimed at a children’s audience. So, how come the movie ended up being so intelligent, well-told, and adult-friendly? How did the writer-directors of the parody film “Extreme Movie” get this animated film so right? A strong plot taken from the book written by Judi and Ron Barrett sure helped. The writer-directors weren’t always doing studio-hand me downs; they proved to have a knack for comedic dialogue from working on TV’s “How I Met Your Mother” and the Shrek franchise. The computer animation is stylized to give the picture a different look from the standard Dreamworks or Pixar film, setting it a world apart. The movie may be strange but it is an original concept in a world of remakes, reboots, and sequels.
The voice talent is . . . wait for it . . . legendary and a perfect compliment for the dialogue. The voice talents include such varied performers as comedians Bill Hader, Anna Faris, Neil Patrick Harris, and Andy Samberg; cult figures Bruce Campbell and Mr. T; and character actors James Caan and Benjamin Bratt. The story is simple while remaining outlandish. Living on a small island hurt by an economic calamity affecting its primary export, a quirky inventor named Flint (Hader) searches for a solution to help his town and family. Never succeeding at finding a practical and user-friendly product, the eccentric Flint stumbles into creating a machine that can make food out of water. This isn’t uncooked or unprepared food either; the machine makes hamburgers, pizza, and ice cream. The invention is launched into the atmosphere over the island, by accident, and what happens next is a meteorological miracle. Weather channel intern Sam Sparks (Faris) is sent to investigate and learns she has quite a bit in common with the shy inventor.
In a year where animation had many stand-out performers, including Pixar and Disney’s latest pictures, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was an unexpectedly well-reviewed and received hit. The pictures focus on the family and human relationships early on helps it maintain the drama while emphasizing the funny. There is a wobbly 3rd act to the picture, as the story becomes a bit too over-the-top when Flint tries to save the island from destruction. Asking the audience to take in a little too much eye-candy and outlandish details at a critical dramatic juncture ultimately kept the film a welcome surprise instead of a cinematic stand-out.
Rated PG for brief mild language.
