"A Funny, Engaging, Clever, and Family-Friendly Argument for Temperance"
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What You Need To Know:
Based on a short children’s book, CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS has a brilliantly written and directed script. This fun-loving movie is filled with crazy characters, impossible situations and clever dialogue. CLOUDY also has some of the best animated 3D yet. Best of all, it has a very strong moral worldview that speaks out strongly against gluttony and extols positive family relationships, self-control, courage, and sacrifice.
Content:
(BBB, C, PP, L, V, N, M) Very strong moral worldview with redemptive Christian virtues and two natural biblical references, strong American values that also point out the dangers of big government in a comical metaphorical way, and a somewhat Romantic view about following your dream, but cast in the moral light of being truthful about who you really are; one “h” obscenity and an implied reference to monkey poo; lots of light, exciting and often funny cartoon violence such as spaghetti tornado with giant meatballs wreaks havoc, sentient roasted chickens attack people, character eaten by giant roasted chicken but survives, characters must avoid sharp pieces of peanut brittle, small and large objects destroyed during mayhem, giant pancake falls on schoolhouse, people must avoid giant pieces of falling, rolling and tumbling food, large falling steaks break tables and objects, dam holding back tons of discarded food leftovers breaks and threatens town and the people in it, characters fall from heights, man throws ice cream snowballs hard at people, etc.; no sex but one kiss and a couple interrupted attempts at a kiss; upper male nudity when man tries to reclaim the notoriety he achieved as a diapered baby icon for a commercial product by wearing a giant diaper in public and brief partial upper male nudity when giant spaghetti tornado sweeps up a man in a bathtub; no alcohol; no smoking; and, gluttony and greed firmly rebuked, but protagonist does steal some power for his new invention.
More Detail:
CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS is a delicious feast for the eyes and the funny bone as well as the heart and mind. Next to UP, it is the best, most clever and funniest animated feature of the year so far.
Aspiring inventor Flint Lockwood is the local outcast in the island town of Swallow Falls, especially after his invention of flying rats went awry. His invention of spray-on shoes was also a flop (he forgot to figure out a way to get them off your feet). And, his monkey thought translator doesn’t really work because monkeys don’t have many coherent thoughts that are worthwhile.
Flint’s father Tim tries to get Flint interested in the family’s bait and tackle shop, but Flint is busy creating a machine that will turn water into food. The truth is, he and his father don’t get along very well, especially after Flint’s mother died.
In a bonehead decision, Flint decides to steal some electrical power to get his machine going during the pompous mayor’s elaborate opening of a tourist attraction celebrating the town’s sardine fishing past. The machine destroys the celebration and rockets up into the clouds. Flint’s machine not only disrupts the mayor’s event. It also disrupts Cable TV weathergirl Samantha Sparks’ network debut.
Then, something amazing happens. Cheeseburgers start falling from the sky, proving that Flint’s marvelous new machine really works.
The food weather is an instant success. Sam’s career takes off, and Flint becomes the most popular man in town, especially to the mayor and the mayor’s increasingly expanding waistline. But, not to his father, who correctly divines that trouble is on the way.
Trouble does indeed come. The townspeople greedily ask for more and more food, and the machine hovering in the clouds starts behaving erratically. When it unleashes a giant spaghetti tornado with giant meatballs, Flint and Sam must use their combined scientific knowhow to shut down the machine and save the town.
Based on a popular short children’s book, CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS has a brilliantly written script by Dartmouth graduates Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who also directed. Lord and Miller take the images from the book of food falling from the sky and expand it into a fun-loving script filled with crazy characters, impossible situations and clever dialogue. CLOUDY also has some of the best animated 3D yet. All of the voice performances and character animations are delightfully rich.
Best of all, the movie has a very strong moral worldview with one or two biblical references. It speaks out strongly against gluttony and extols many virtues, including positive family relationships, courage, temperance or self-control, discipline, hard work, and sacrifice. Ironically, it is the mayor who turns out to be the biggest glutton of all. Thus, there’s a subtle but strong conservative message against gluttonous big government in the movie. That said, the movie’s themes are general enough that even non-conservatives should enjoy it too.
CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS is positively well worth seeing. It’s a clever, funny, heartwarming, delightfully kooky, endearing, engaging, and exciting movie for the entire family.
