CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS

This is one that I put on my lovefilm a while ago as I was trawling through the new releases section. I hit the 'rent me' tab as I vaguely remembered hearing Kermode saying that he enjoyed it. When it arrived in the post though I must admit that I wasn't exactly filled with excitement. In fact, I did wonder whether I would actually watch it. 'When would I be in the mood' I asked myself. I considered posting it straight back.

The question was answered when my girlfriend and I were planning on a lazy morning in bed with mugs of coffee and toast. With nowt on the telly she suggested I put on Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, and so I sensibly did as I was told. And so I settled down to view with not particularly high expectations.



The trouble with digitally animated films is that there seems to be one released every week and you can always on them ticking the same boxes. Cuddly characters, check. Voices done by whoever is in fashion in Hollywood, check. Film references/jokes, check. Cheeky little jokes for the adults, check. Moral of the story where we all lectured that we must be nice to each other and recycle our beer bottles, check. Pixar, who are obviously the leaders in this genre, manage to somehow get away with it though. It works, for kids, adults and cynics alike. Why is that?

I think it's do with the characters themselves. If you buy into them, whether they are a talking dog or a tap dancing penguin, then you care what happens to them. You also probably forgive them for being slightly irritating or predictable. And Pixar are the only ones who are able to do this - just look at their last  films, Wall-E, Up and Toy Story 3. All guaranteed tear-jerkers.

So, that is the context for my low expectations as I pressed play. Meatballs exceeded these expectations. If truth be told it would have exceeded my expectations had I been waiting for it's DVD release counting the days. It was brilliant.

The plot set up is nicely done, a local boy on a small island in the Atlantic aspires to be an inventor to put his town on the map only to be hopeless at everything he turns his attention to (including a 'Monkey Thought Translator' which is annoyingly similar to the Talking Dog tool used in UP - not sure which film came first - one for the lawyers). One of these disastrous inventions has the accidental effect of causing it to rain Cheeseburgers. The little island becomes the talk of the world and the tourist industry booms, easily overtaking the other main export - Sardines.

Things are all swell for the main character, he's the hero of the town, looks as though he's getting the girl.....but now for the moral of the story...it is possible for too much of a good thing. This is when the film really takes off. It turns into a wonderfully surreal adventure as they try to save the day, venturing inside the culinary weather system. It almost seems like a visual take on the Beatles song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. Brilliant. All the way through to a thrilling conclusion.

From start to finish, this film never lets up. The laughs come consistently, pitched at the right level, there are some brilliantly creative uses of the 'food for weather' gag,  really likeable characters (including a brilliant role for Mr T as a paternal police officer), some equally unpleasant bad guys (The Mayor and the Roast Chicken army spring to mind) and at the heart of it a genuinely touching father/son relationship culminating in a teary end. It's not Pixar but it's as close as anyone has got. If you get the chance, check this film out.