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Bookmark this pageCloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (2009)
Director: Chris Miller, Phil Lord
Movie review
From Time Out London
The Pixar crew have been smugly ensconced as kings of their computer-animated castle for a while now, secure in the knowledge that while the other animation houses – with their sass-talking sloths and farting ogres – might amuse the little ’uns for a couple of hours, they’d never trouble the pantheon of cartoon greats. Sony Pictures’s ‘Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs’ may not scale the artistic heights of a ‘Finding Nemo’ or ‘Wall-E’, but it’s the most satisfying and original non-Pixar CG animated movie to hit screens in a while.On a remote island principality in the mid-Atlantic, the populace have been living on sardines since the canned-fish market dried up. So plucky young scientist Flint Lockwood, inventor of overactive hair-unbalder and spray-on shoes (which you can never remove), commits himself to solving the problem. His answer is a machine which turns water into food, creating anything from sliced pizza to ice cream with toppings. It’s a success – until a freak accident happens, the machine goes berserk, and it starts to rain cheeseburgers.
The makers of the film are not remotely interested in pop-culture references or celebrity cameos: the voice cast favours stalwarts like Anna Faris and James Caan over inappropriate A-listers. Banishing such petty distractions frees director Phil Lord to focus on more important issues, like story and character: the plot is wonderfully twisty, building to an eyeball-frazzling culinary climax of truly epic proportions. The characters are equally well drawn, from self-absorbed, overambitious doofus Flint to his expressionless but somehow heartbreaking sad-sack dad, Tim.
But the film’s greatest pleasure – and the element that sets it apart from its smarmy, in-jokey predecessors – is its bizarre sense of humour. Fusing snappy one-liners with a kid-friendly seam of slapstick incorporating everything from talking monkeys to homicidal Gummi Bears, the script provokes comparison with comedy from The Marx Brothers to ‘The Mighty Boosh’. This sense of unpredictability, coupled with some breathlessly paced and visually stunning action scenes, makes this the animated success of 2009… at least until ‘Up’ opens next month.
Author: Tom Huddleston
Time Out London Issue 2039: 17-23 September, 2009
User reviews of this film
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- Paulydog said...
- Posted on Oct 20 2011 23:01 THIS MOVIE SUCKS!!!!! it has a very very bad message about eating and obecity!
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- BC said...
- Posted on Aug 12 2010 09:05 Annie darling, youi are so missing the point. It is totally sending up excess with a morbidly obese and greedy mayor and the "biggest is best" shown to be soooo very wrong. I think perhaps you are a humourless vegan. I am a happy one!
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- annaleah said...
- Posted on Jun 22 2010 00:57 i think the movie is a great movie.since i thought it was so great i wanted to see it again.everything is great in the movie.the characters,people,voices,and a lots of other things.
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- wolves rule said...
- Posted on Feb 04 2010 19:45 the music is dramatic, the characters are fun, the voices are great, and the music is legendary. You'd be missing out on not seeing this.
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- Joanna said...
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Posted on Feb 01 2010 14:23
i've watched the film and i thought it was amazing and funny , i loved it when it was raining food lol .
its a must see film , recommend this film to younger kids tho :) x
love joanna x - Report as inappropriate
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- Annie said...
- Posted on Dec 06 2009 07:36 Think: animation does burgers, cheese, spaghetti, pizzas, donuts - basically the most hideously fatty and carbohydated food of the Fast Food Nation of America pumped into a boring old formula. What were they thinking? We thought dull and felt nauseous.
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- bob said...
- Posted on Oct 21 2009 20:36 cool
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- bob said...
- Posted on Oct 21 2009 20:36 cool
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- Jade said...
- Posted on Oct 19 2009 19:41 A fabulous film! A marvellous kids anamated film with some tromendous comedy! A MUST WATCH film! Perfect for a night out with kids!
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- Jade said...
- Posted on Oct 19 2009 19:38 I absulutely loved it! A fab kids animated film with tromendous comedy! A MUST-WATCH film!
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- Mark said...
- Posted on Oct 05 2009 13:19 I took my 10 year opld nephew and we both loved it. Great bits for kids and some funny lines and ideas for adults too. A really enjoyable film.
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- Libethhh said...
- Posted on Sep 30 2009 10:37 im 17 and might be going to see it for my birthdaay
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- beth said...
- Posted on Sep 27 2009 13:30 i havent ever seen it but is it good for a 28 year old to see with too children 10 and 3? x
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- roger rabbit said...
- Posted on Sep 26 2009 20:51 Great movie.....if your 5
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- K said...
- Posted on Sep 25 2009 20:58 Fab. Surreal. See it. Great chracters, laugh out loud action. A hoot!
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Cast & crew
Director: Chris Miller, Phil Lord
Genre(s): Children's
Rated: U
Duration: 89 mins
UK Release: Sep 18 2009
US Release: Sep 18 2009
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