Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Movie Review

Have you ever had a dream about food falling from the sky in the form of a delectable rainfall of fries, cookies, and pizza? I'm a foodie, so it is not a leap of the imagination, whatsoever, to enter into a trance-like state from the sight of a scrumptious double cheeseburger stacked with lettuce, tomato, and pickle or chicken fried to golden-brown perfection almost begging to be devoured.

I know, I know... not everyone is cut from the same (table)cloth. But, let me tell you, there are enough delectable treats for both kids and grown-ups in this scrumptious dish of a movie, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Based on the well-loved children's book written by Judith Barrett about 30 years ago, the movie version is the type of children's fare that has just enough action to keep the kiddies on the edge of their seats, and over-their-head jokes to maintain the interest of the parents dragged along for the ride.

It all begins with the introduction of a young inventor named Flint Lockwood (voiced by Saturday Night Live's Bill Hader) and his struggle to make his way through a world where he doesn't quite fit in. Flint's father (voiced by James Caan) doesn't really understand his son. His father tries to lead him into the family sardine tackle/bait business to squelch his thirst for scientific misadventures. But Flint still wants to hold on to his dreams of inventing something so phenomenal that he will be known throughout time, just like the famous scientists he idolizes - even though all his projects seem to somehow go terribly wrong. And it doesn't help that the small town he lives in doesn't seem quite ready for such out-of-the-box thinking.

The town is in turmoil due to the fact that the sardine business that helped the town prosper in the past has now dried up. There is no market for sardines anymore -anywhere - period. Since no one knows anything other than the sardine business, all the townspeople have left to fill their lives and plates are the remnants of their past glory - tiresome, tasteless sardines.

Flint wants to help everyone in his hometown, so he creates a machine that, incredibly, can turn water into food! At first, the invention is a joyous creation and Flint is highly regarded, achieving the status he always dreamed of. He even finds love with TV weathergirl, Sam Sparks (voiced by Anna Faris). But, then things start to go terribly wrong and the food gets bigger and bigger! Can Flint save his town - and the world - from total destruction by an out-of-control food storm? Check out Sony Pictures' and Columbia Pictures' Cloudy with the Chance of Meatballs and find out!

Sources:Inventing for Kids: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs - Written by Gene Quinn

http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2009/09/19/inventing-for-kids-cloudy-with-a-chance-of-meatballs/id=6247/