Movies based on books are either good for the soul or leave a bad taste in your mouth. Sony's new flick ""Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,"" based on the best-selling children's book, easily puts itself in the first category—everyone can find something they like about it.
Moviegoers who are expecting a moving picture of the book will find some modernized differences that end up shaping the movie. For example, while the book solely takes place in the town of Chewandswallow, the movie starts in a dull town called Swallow Falls, whose residents can only eat sardines. Also, there is no Grandpa Henry in the movie, instead, resident Flint Lockwood invents a machine that creates any food imaginable and drops it from the sky. Though his fellow residents are angry at him at first for destroying the city and ""SardineLand,"" the new theme park, they soon appreciate his hard work because their hands are full of cheeseburgers.
Despite these (and many more) changes, those who see ""Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs"" to reminisce about one of their favorite books will not be disappointed. The movie still retains the excessively high amount of food falling from the sky, especially during a scene in which there are tens of feet of ice cream scoops resembling snow. The movie also perfects the Chewandswallow residents' reactions to the phenomenon, which goes from shocked to overwhelmingly happy to incredibly scared when the food gets so large that it damages the town.
Younger kids will like the movie because, well, food's falling from the sky. In large amounts. There are also a few poop jokes in the movie. What could be better?
Teenagers and college students will also find things to like in ""Cloudy."" Many people, both girls and guys, will see a part of themselves in Flint, who's more of a master at being awkward than he is at inventing. Also, as the movie goes on, the relationship between Flint and Sam seems like one middle-schoolers would have, but it's cute nonetheless.
The only flaw in the movie is that the animation seems a little exaggerated for a movie rendition of a calm-looking children's book. Other than that, ""Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs"" is a must-see for anyone who's looking to get away from the stress of real life for a while and escape to Chewandswallow, where instead of rain, you'll be doused in ice cream.
