Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009)

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.

Directors:

Phil Lord, Chris Miller

Writers:

Phil Lord (written for the screen by), Chris Miller (written for the screen by),

Stars:

Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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)

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. The shifty mayor tries to use this as a way to help their community, but when Flint senses something wrong with the machine, the mayor convinces him to ignore it. However, as Flint predicts, chaos ensues.

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Plot Keywords:

food | sardine | mayor | weather | eiffel tower destroyed | 

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Taglines:

Prepare to get served

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Genres:

Animation | Comedy | Family | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for brief mild language

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Pictures [France] Sony Pictures [Japan]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 September 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: An IMAX 3D Experience

Box Office

Budget:

$100,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£1,583,544 (UK) (18 September 2009)

Gross:

$124,870,275 (USA) (22 January 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Amy Poehler and Will Arnett planned to produce and star in the film during the early development stages.

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Goofs

When typing in the first breakfast order into the machine, Flint orders the eggs "over easy", but when it rains, the eggs that are falling are "sunny side up".

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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.

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Crazy Credits

On the Columbia Pictures title screen, the Torch Lady is dislodged off the pedestal by a giant banana that falls from the sky.

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Connections

Spoofs Yellow Submarine (1968)

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Soundtracks

"Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows"
Written by Howard Liebling and Marvin Hamlisch
Performed by Lesley Gore
Courtesy of The Island Def Jam Music Group
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Possibly the funniest animated movie I've ever seen

Just to set the record straight, I'm not a fan of most non-Disney Animation, non-Pixar animated films being released these days, and even my faith in the former was just recently renewed with last year's Bolt (which has topped Pulp Fiction as my personal favorite movie of all time). Sure, every once in a while, a brilliant piece such as Coraline will come along, but honestly, I find that to be one of the relatively few exceptions from this decade. So, with that said, I initially wasn't looking forward to seeing Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. What further detracted from my excitement were the trailers, which led me to believe that the film was going to be strictly targeted towards children. Having just seen the film, though, I am happy to say that all of my fears were put to rest.

Visually, this is perhaps one of the most spectacular animated movies I've ever seen, with literally every frame being a feast for the eyes. There were moments, especially throughout the movie's undeniably thrilling climax, in which my jaw just dropped in amazement. Not to throw in so much hyperbole, but this truly is one of the best animated films in terms of pure eye candy. While there's so much else in this movie to enjoy, the visuals alone make it worth the price of admission.

The vocal performances in Cloudy are some of the most impressive ones I've heard in quite some time. Both Bill Hader and Anna Faris as Flint and Sam, respectively, capture the essence of these two socially-awkward, smarter-than-you-might-think type of characters perfectly. Overall, I felt these two characters had some real chemistry, and as a result, I thoroughly enjoyed watching their relationship evolve throughout the course of the film. Mr. T is also terrific as the city cop, Earl, delivering some of the most gut-bustingly hilarious lines in the entire film. With that said, this is quite possibly the funniest animated movie that I've ever seen. To put it simply, there were a couple of moments in which I literally thought that I was going to be ill.

I walked out of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs with very much the same feeling as I did with '08's aforementioned Bolt: astonished by how mediocre I initially expected the film to be, and how enjoyable it actually ended up being. The only thing keeping this film from getting a 10/10 in my book is – even with the few scenes that managed to tug at my heartstrings - the lack of an emotional punch powerful enough to get me choked up. However, given the film's quirky nature, I view that as a mild complaint at best. Go see it, folks.