Caffeinated Clint
By Clint Morris
Just like the Italian dish, ”Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” is warm, rich, meaty, and just soft enough for the littlies to consume.
Unlike other recently family films, like middle-of-the-road misfire Astro Boy and tonally-challenged 9, the feature film adaptation of Judy Barrett’s book encompasses all the right ingredients, and best of all it’s cooked right through.
A lot of today’s so-called ‘kiddie’ flicks seem to be all about showcasing the ‘all-star voice cast’ or the state-of-the-art technology that aided in their conception, and while Meatballs does revel in it’s recognizable cast (James ‘Sonny’ Caan, Anna Faris of the ”Scary Movie” flicks, and TV fave Neil Patrick Harris are among those lending their lungs to proceedings) to an extent, and it’s impressive visuals (it’s, like most of it’s peers, a CGI flick), it never forgets that the story is what’ll ultimately keep viewers glued. And this one has a corker!
In the town of Chewandswallow, people are sick of eating sardines and a local failed inventor by the name of Flint Lockwood (Bill Hader, known for for his roles in Judd Apatow flicks ”The Pineapple Express” and ”Superbad”) accidentally sends a machine that turns water into food out into the atmosphere. The town is soon hit by burgers, ice cream and Jell-O and an intern-turned-weather reporter, Sam Sparks (the unmistakable Anna Faris) is sent to cover the story.
At the heart of this rather funny, but also quite sweet feature is some important social commentary about why it’s important to eat right. With the world now crammed with overweight kiddies, and noxious food options, it’s great to see that a film’s ‘point’ actually has, well, a ‘point’. It’s not an overtly preachy statement, and it won’t be picked up by everyone, but it’s definitely there.
In addition, there’s a nice story about the importance of family, and more so, a welcome subplot that explores why some women feel they have to ‘dumb themselves down’ – when they really don’t need to.
Even if the little ones don’t take any of that in, they’ll definitely enjoy the mischievous Steve the Monkey (voiced by Neil Patrick Harris) – so one way or another, everyone’s going home happy.
Blu-Ray Details and Extras :
Not only does the disc look and sound absolutely amazing, it’s accompanied by a few fun extras including music videos, games, and several behind-the-scenes featurettes. It’s not ‘raining’ bonus features, but it’s still a sufficient package.
