su·per·cil·i·ous·ness

Website: sonypictures.com 
Director: Phil Lord    
Lead: Bill Hader 
Co-Star: Anna Faris 
Genre: Animation/Family 
Runtime: 90mins
Rating: G
Stars: ★★★

Being dutiful Uncle Bents, I headed off today with a couple of the kids to a charity screening of Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs with the proceeds going to the Sony Foundation. The choice of charity probably relates to the fact that this is the first effort of the new Sony digital 3D imaging software - but thankfully I went to a 2D screening (I'm not quite into the 3D thing yet). 

The film itself is based on a popular kids book from the 1980s (which I have never heard of) about a kid named Flint who lives on an island in the Atlantic which relies on sardines for its living - but the arse has fallen out of the sardine market and now the island lives on a sardine diet. At the urgings of his mum, young Flint sets about using his creativity to invent all manner of weird things - but culminating in, as a young adult, a machine which can turn water into any food that you like.  

Just as it appears the machine will never work - Flint's dad says he should come work in the family tackle and sardine shop - this gives him extra motivation and eureka it works! It works in a fluke though - and the machine is rocketed into the clouds which then start raining the foods that Flint tells it to produce. But of course this is a kids animation - something must go wrong and our hero must save the day. I will not fill in the gaps but this is a formula well anticipated. 

The plot is so ludicrous that it can only work in animation - and it is done well. The kids totally enjoyed it - but me less so. The one highlight for me was Mr T as the voice of the town cop with the tight shorts. Funny as. 

Check it out on DVD. The kids will watch it over and over. 

IMDb