Review

Review Date: 20-September-09
Spoiler Rating: Low
Juju Judgment: Juicy

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009)

Although Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs bears all the hallmarks of an animated family film (underdog hero, plucky female, poop jokes, sentiment, and 3D), it has a unique flavor which sets it apart from the pack. I was immediately charmed when the opening credits proclaimed it to be a film by "a lot of people," and my enjoyment continued upon beholding the misadventures of a young and geeky inventor named Flint Lockwood (Bill Hader). Flint hails from a remote island in the Atlantic where most everybody is involved in the sardine trade, including his heavily eyebrowed father (James Caan). But Flint was never interested in fish. From his earliest childhood he wanted to emulate heroes like Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla, and as an adult he forgoes employment and a social life to tinker in his laboratory with a monkey.

Flint's invention of a machine that turns water into any food of his choosing coincides with the demise of the fishery and, consequently, his hometown. It also coincides with the promotion of former-nerd-turned-hottie Sam Sparks (Anna Faris) to weather reporter on a national television station. Sam arrives just in time to see Flint unwittingly launch his invention into the atmosphere. Before you can say "holy hamburgers!" such items are raining from the sky, giving Sam a big scoop and landing the struggling little island (and struggling little inventor) on the map.

Food is one of the few subjects that holds personal significance for every member of an audience, and at first pizza precipitation and sweetmeat showers appear delightful. Yet one of the surprising things about Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is that it is more likely to turn you off from food than make you hungry. Its moral targets gluttony, specifically the American habit of applying the maxim "bigger is better" to the portions on our plates. The villain of the piece, the town mayor (Bruce Campbell), embodies this unfortunate practice. Flint and his friends must save not only the island but the whole world from the mayor's insatiable appetite, and they have their work cut out for them. Even I, a devotee of gummy bears, was troubled by these sinister critters during the action-packed finish inside a giant celestial meatball. Many movies end with the hero getting the girl but few require him to rappel through peanut brittle first. It is moments like this that make the movie a treat.

Copyright © 2009 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.