Pun Salad

This movie is based on a wonderful book we used to read to the kiddos when we were all much younger. And by "based on", I mean: it has the same title. And some of the book's fantastic images are echoed in the movie. Other than that, though, it's not very similar. But still not bad.

For one thing, the movie has a protagonist: inventor geek Flint Lockwood. He's aching to use his knack for gadgetry to come up with an invention that will earn him the popularity and honors denied him ever since back in grade school when he invented Spray-On Shoes. Which unfortunately, were impossible to remove.

"I wanted to run away," Flint reminisces. "But you can't run away from your own feet."

He finally thinks he's got it when he comes up with a machine that turns water into food. Launched into the clouds, it causes all imaginable food to rain from the sky onto the temporarily blessed town of Chewandswallow. But then things go wrong.

The movie is fast-paced and clever, and contains all kinds of small gags, many of which I'm sure I missed. There are also a host of colorful characters In addition to Flint (voiced by SNL's Bill Hader), there's Sam the weathergirl (Anna Faris), Flint's dad (James Caan), town bully "Baby" Brent (Andy Samberg, also from SNL), the Mayor (Bruce Campbell), and local hardnosed cop Earl (Mr. T!).