Andy Samberg, Anna Faris, Bill Hader

A scientist trying to solve world hunger encounters a problem of global proportions, as food begins to fall from the sky.

Flixster Users

73% liked it

402,747 ratings

Critics

85% liked it

115 critics

PG, 1 hr. 21 min.

Directed by: Chris Miller, Phil Lord

Release Date: September 18, 2009

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DVD Release Date: January 5, 2010

Stats: 12,608 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (12,608)


  • November 24, 2009
    "Prepare to get served"

    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.

    REVIEW

    B...( read more)ased on the popular children's book Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Sony Pictures takes a stab at the Pixar dominated world of CGI animation. Despite some flaws in the narrative, it's a solid hit for the company.

    With the voice talents of Bill Hader, Anna Faris, and James Caan, this light-hearted comedy is well worth the watch. Perhaps it's too light. There's no deep powerful message to be learned that you haven't heard before. It's very aesthetically pleasing as some of the other animated films this year. The land of ice cream scene was especially appetizing. And there is a terrific love story at the core of the film. Flint (Hader) and Sam (Faris) are the cutest of cute in terms of geeks in love. Directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller were very clever in the execution in the beauty of their relationship despite being based on the book.

    Is this the Oscar frontrunner for Animated Feature film? Absolutely not. With Up, Coraline, and Ponyo so far ahead of the game, the film is quite forgettable when placed amongst other contenders. Give it a taste however, it'll satisfy the craving.
  • November 21, 2009
    Very creative and unique story. Lots of cute, funny moments too.
  • October 28, 2009
    The apocalypse by way of bacon, spaghetti, and fudge: is this the latest from Roland Emmerich?

    Based on a popular 1978 children's book by Judi and Ron Barrett, "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" tells the story of a remote island where, thanks to a plucky young inventor, it can...( read more) rain food. Hamburgers falling from the sky are certainly a nice change of pace from the island's former number one export, sardines, which have become out of fashion due to newspapers reporting that sardines are, in fact, gross.

    The inventor is Flint Lockwood (voiced by Bill Hader), a geek with daddy issues and a number of failed inventions under his belt, such as his permanent spray-on shoes. When he constructs a machine with the ability to transform water into food, the town's mayor (Bruce Campbell) sees this as the perfect opportunity to draw tourism. They could, you know, export giant steaks, but an island finding great wealth out of their gluttony isn't as cute of a message. Flint meets his love interest, weather girl Sam Sparks (Anna Faris), as she reports the edible forecast.

    There are a lot of things you can say with this material, but the film doesn't have the courage to run all the way with it. The excess food is placed behind a dam outside of town, which the mayor ignorantly dismisses until, of course, spaghetti hurricanes cause it's destruction. Because of the relentless onslaught of giant food spectacle, however, most of these ideas are completely drowned out by the film's own syrup. Also, interestingly enough, only one citizen, the mayor, seems to be gaining any weight.

    It's unfair to compare all animated films to Pixar, but films like "Up" continue to set the bar for what a smart audience demands out of contemporary animation. "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" starts out with wonderful intentions, but it's latter half is an eight hundred pound mountain of Jello-O - all action, all spectacle, no heart. Pixar has also never resorted to a character like the African American police officer (Mr. T, of all people), an amalgamation of every black stereotype you can imagine. Even the montage of sardines didn't leave as bad of a taste in my mouth.

    Although starting off strong, "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" devolves into a series of dumb action sequences that will keep your children entertained without challenging them in any way. It's one step above the lowest of trashy animation due to it's gorgeous visuals and a handful of laughs, but we're far from the brilliance of "Coraline", "Up", or "Ponyo".
  • October 22, 2009
    Really nice film to watch and look at :) very colourful, light, breezy and fun filled for all the family, well mainly the kids haha its a nice lovely film full of good imagination, crazy characters and kiddie type slapstick which will keep all kids happy. Not too much for the adu...( read more)lts I'm afraid, as expected of course, not in the same league as Toy Story for laughs but there are some smiley moments :)

    I just saw this for the animation side really, I like to see different studios take on animation and how they make it differ from film to film, plenty of food filled fun.
  • October 3, 2009
    Oh my goodness! I loved this book as a child and I must say I was quite excited to go see it. I took my nephew with me and we both really enjoyed it. The story was cute and kept you interested, the animation was a delight to watch. I felt like a child all over again...food fallin...( read more)g from the sky...yum!
  • November 24, 2009
    one of the best animated film till date
  • November 24, 2009
    Watch this Movie Online FREE Here
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  • November 24, 2009
    On rit 10 minutes et on se fait chier pendant plus d'une heure. L'humour manque de recul et le scénario est indigent. Pourtant l'idée de départ est sympathique pour tout boulimique qui se respecte mais la bouffe, c'est comme tout, à trop en abuser, ça file la gerbe.
  • November 23, 2009
    HOLA como estas espero que bien
  • November 23, 2009
    Hilarious! The writers definitely tailored the humor to the adults they knew would have to be there. Really "dumb" humor that works. I will own this DVD.

Critic Reviews


September 21, 2009
A.O. Scott, At the Movies

For me, this movie was just too noisy, too overstuffed, too gross. full review

September 18, 2009
Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle

It takes an iron stomach to watch this stuff and not feel nauseated. full review

September 18, 2009
Kyle Smith, New York Post

The animated movie greatly expands on the kids' book on which it's based in a clever and engaging first half. But the second half leaves a foul aftertaste. Slapdash action scenes play against dreary w... full review

September 18, 2009
Nigel Andrews, The Financial Times

The film continues in meal-monsoon mode for 90 minutes with scant variation. full review

September 18, 2009
Amy Biancolli, San Francisco Chronicle

ransforms Judi and Ron Barrett's ink-drawn tale of edible precipitation into some kind of IMAX aversion therapy for popcorn-snarfing theater-goers. In a word: gross. full review

September 17, 2009
Claudia Puig, USA Today

Directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller have written an engaging and comically absurd story with subtle messages, more sophisticated than what usually is offered in animated fare. full review

September 17, 2009
Pete Hammond, Boxoffice Magazine

It's raining big food and big laughs in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, a hysterically funny and wildly clever new 'toon that could just turn out to be the most purely entertaining and inventive an... full review

September 17, 2009
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

It seemed to me the mountains of fudge, ice cream and pancakes overshot the mark and looked silly, and the airborne food cast a pall over the city, but by golly those kids are plucky. full review

September 16, 2009
Nick Schager, Time Out New York

It may not have the heart or subtle artistry of Up, but then again, Pixar's 3-D outing didn't feature a mustache-tearing monkey, a manchild encased in a giant cooked chicken, or a beefy, bounding cop ... full review

View more Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments


  • amalinaazra
    September 19, 2009
    im feel hungry....!!
    i want food!
    i want food!
    i want food!
  • ilovetheeightiesforever
    September 18, 2009
    I totally love movies like this one. I would love it if this actually came true too, just imagine thinking about food and pooof it appears. I don't know about you but I would be thinking about pepperoni and sausage pizzas and also be thinking about spaghetti with ragu sauce and IN-N-OUT Burgers and french fries. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm sounds yummy to me. i wish it could come true, it would solve the hunger in this overcrowded world.
  • thesilverhorseshoe
    April 21, 2009
    who wrote the book 'cloudy w/ chance of meatballs?' if some1 will tell than i can read it and decide whether i want 2 c it or not!
  • pooglywoogly
    April 19, 2009
    i think it would be better in live action. with real people acting it out.
  • skennedy40977
    March 18, 2009
    I loved this book as a kid...think it'll be a good movie?

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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