Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs ***

If Up is one of the most moving and adventurous animated films in years, then Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is surely one of the funniest. Flint Lockwood (voiced by Bill Hader) is an enthusiastic, albeit unsuccessful inventor living on the tiny island of Shallow Falls in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. When the island’s sardine-driven economy dries up, its residents are forced to live on a diet that is short on variety if not imagination. But when the FLDSMDFR (Flint Lockwood Diatonic Super Mutating Dynamic Food Replicator) is shot into the sky, food begins to rain from the heavens, and Flint becomes the unlikely hero. What better place for it than the clouds?

Sam Sparks (Anna Farris), an aspiring meteorologist from New York City is on the scene to witness this “food weather,” and it’s a good thing, because the town’s mayor is able to broadcast the phenomenon to the entire world, inviting tourists with the hope of sparking the island’s economy. She also serves as Flint’s eventual love interest, providing the characters with some of their more awkward moments and one very sweet one inside the bowels of a giant gelatinous mountain.

With great, colorful animation and an equally colorful imagination, the film’s greatest spectacle is when the food falls from the sky. As the third act begins, the food portions get bigger and scarier, and where once the island suffered from lack of food it now suffers from an overabundance. And a giant spaghetti tornado. Flint must find the courage to save not only his little island but also the entire planet. The food weather has begun to invade, as the film smartly points out, all of the major landmarks throughout the world.

What makes Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs a great family film is that it’s funny for the entire family, not just the kids. For a movie to succeed in the saturated computer animated film market, it must appeal to everyone. This one fits the bill. It is a broad comedy for children, but it has developed characters, and even the minor ones have significant story arcs, including Flint’s dad (James Caan), Mayor Shelbourne (Bruce Campbell), Baby Brent (Andy Samberg), and Officer Devereaux (Mr. T.). Though I did not see this film in 3-D, it seems to be the perfect vehicle for the technology. It is both lovable and funny. And it makes you hungry.