Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (2009) - Oscar ® Nominee!

"Cloudy is smart, insightful on a host of relationship dynamics, and filled with fast-paced action.  Ernest Hardy, LA Weekly
"Wise and respectful of its audience, "Cloudy" thus never stops the fun.  Matthew Sorrento, Film Threat

Editor's Note Inspired by Ron and Judi Barrett's beloved children's book of the same name, CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS follows inventor Flint Lockwood (voice of Bill Hader) and brainy weathergirl Sam Sparks (voice of Anna Faris) as they attempt to discover why the rain in their small town has stopped while food is falling in its place. Meanwhile, lifelong bully Brent (voice of Adam Samberg) relishes in tormenting Flint just as he did when they were kids, and Mayor Shelbourne (voice of Bruce Campbell) schemes to use Flint's latest invention--a device designed to improve everyone's lives--for his own personal gain. Mr. T. voices by-the-books cop Earl Devereaux, and James Caan voices Flint's technophobe father, Tim.

	Chris Miller - Screenwriter
	Pam Marsden - Producer
	Tracy Morgan - Voice
	Mr. T - Voice
	James Caan - Voice
	Judi Barrett - Source Writer
	Anna Faris - Voice
	Andy Samberg - Voice
	Bill Hader - Voice
	Phil Lord - Screenwriter
	Bruce Campbell - Voice
	Ron Barrett - Source Writer
	Bobb'e J. Thompson - Voice
	Benjamin Bratt - Voice
	Neil Patrick Harris - Voice
	Al Roker - Voice
	Lauren Graham - Voice
	Will Forte - Voice
	Yair Landau - Executive Producer
	Mark Mothersbaugh - Composer
	Chris Miller - Director
	Phil Lord - Director

Box Office
4 stars out of 5 -- "[A] hysterically funny and wildly clever new 'toon that could just turn out to be the most purely entertaining and inventive animated comedy of the year." 09/17/2009

USA Today
3 stars out of 4 -- "[A] surprisingly savory treat....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." 09/18/2009

A.V. Club
"[With] endearing characters brought vividly to life by a pleasing visual style, plus funny vocal performances from Bill Hader, Anna Faris, Bruce Campbell, and Mr. T." -- Grade: B 09/17/2009

New York Times
"Parents will enjoy tracking the endless stream of movie and television sendups..." 09/18/2009

Washington Post
?[A]ny moviegoers possessed of funny bones will laugh their fool heads off at CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS.? 09/18/2009

Los Angeles Times
"[F]irst-time writer-directors Phil Lord and Christopher MIller conjure up a veritable blizzard of ways of channeling chow, carrying it off with enough brio to send audiences into a food coma." 09/18/2009

The Onion A.V. Club 8 of 10
Freely adapted from the 1978 children's book by Judi and Ron Barrett, the new animated movie Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs feels like a warning from another era. A parable about the perils of living amid abundance, it arrives at a moment when even Sesame Street has had to address the seemingly endless economic recession. Hey, message already received, the hard way. Of course, kids probably won't mind. And if they're lucky, they may even get a chance to appreciate its warning about the dark side of easy living...It also helps that the film, co-directed and co-scripted by first-time feature-makers Phil Lord and Chris Miller, doesn't get too bogged down with moralizing. It flits swiftly between easy-but-funny sight gags involving giant food, send-ups of disaster-film cliches, and endearing characters brought vividly to life by a pleasing visual style, plus funny vocal performances from Bill Hader, Anna Faris, Bruce Campbell, and Mr. T. Hader plays a hapless geek with a lifelong gift for building inventions that almost work. His luck changes -- and with it, the luck of his island town, whose sardine-based economy has been hit hard by the revelation that, as one headline puts it, "Sardines Are Super Gross" -- when he unveils a machine that makes the sky rain whatever food he chooses. But the tremendous gift works largely to make his fellow citizens lazy, and it leaves Hader no happier than before, even with the arrival of a pretty weather reporter (Faris) who shares some of his nerdy obsessions...Between dispensing lessons about the important of staying industrious and the kids'-movie staple of staying true to yourself, Meatballs focuses on clever gags -- some involving a monkey with a voice translator that only reveals the shallowness of his interests, others featuring Andy Samberg as a man who's spent his whole life coasting on once having served as a sardine company's adorable baby mascot -- and some surprisingly touching stuff with Hader's inexpressive, uncomprehending dad (James Caan). It's a brisk, bright, winning effort, even though it already looks sadly out of touch with the times. - Keith Phipps