KYMM'S 365 DAY MOVIE CHALLENGE #26: CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS (2009, USA)
Not every sardine was meant to swim, son.”
“I don’t understand fishing metaphors!”
This is one of those movies that I am not certain why it never occurred to me to watch. When I think about it, people who like it are people to whom I have similar tastes, but for some reason, my brain just sailed on by for the past twelve years.
Flint Lockwood (Bill Hader) is an inventor whose inventions always go wrong. It's not that they don't work, they do, they just work in an unexpected manner. He lives in a town called Swallow Falls, where the local sardine factory shuts down, and thus, there is nothing to eat but sardines, which are super gross.He invents a machine that turns water into food, which is a terrible idea any way you look at it, and it definitely works in an unexpected manner when the machine accidentally gets blasted up into the sky over Swallow Falls, making it rain food.
There are some marvelous characters, like Flint's taciturn father (James Caan), who doesn't understand him, and just wants him to join him in the sardine fishing supply business; the town cop (the awesome Mr. T) who isn't putting up with any trouble in his town; Sam, the aspiring TV weathergirl (Anna Faris), who spends all her time trying to hide how smart she is; and the town's sleazy mayor (Bruce Campbell), who definitely doesn't see the looming problems with the machine that turns water into food and just wants to turn the town into a money-making enterprise.
The relationship between Flint the inventor and his dad, the fisherman, is the heart of the movie. Dad can only speak in fishing metaphors, which Flint is utterly confused by. All Flint wants is his dad to tell him that he is proud of him, which he can't manage to do no matter how much he wants to.
This is one of those animated movies that you really cannot look away from, because so many visual jokes are lurking in the corners of the screen. The continual callbacks to the ratbirds, for instance, made me laugh every time. And everything comes back around in an unexpected manner. This movie is a real treat. Pun intended.
Kymm Zuckert is an actor/writer/native Angelino. When Kymm was a child, her parents would take her to see anything, which means that sometimes she will see a film today and say, “I saw that when I was eight, I don’t remember any of that inappropriate sex stuff!” Check out her entire 365 day blog @ https://365filmsin365days.movie.blog