Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs ***

For adults, it's funny with a chance of guffaws. For kids, it's a Technicolor food land with a good chance of 3D delights. For all, it's a fine animated feature based on the well-known children's book, with a story that says it's OK to be a nerd, and that Dads can love, even if they might be less articulate than a monkey.

The story, such as it is, revolves around a long-time nerd and irrepressible inventor, Flint Lockwood (voiced by SNL's Bill Hader), whose latest, and this time successful, invention is a machine that makes food on demand out of water. When it gets stuck in the clouds over his Atlantic island home, everyone sees deliverance from the economic ruin that has befallen them since sardines lost their popularity. A secretly nerdy weather girl from the states, Sam, ("The House Bunny's" Anna Faris) is sent to investigate, and the soup, er, plot, thickens.

"Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" is thoroughly enjoyable, visually expressive, and blessed with a cast of voices that hold it all together. This movie respects its audience, no matter of what age, and speaks honestly to a number of relationship issues.

Rated PG. 90 minutes. Phil Lord - Director / Writer (screenplay), Chris Miller - Director / Writer (screenplay), Judi Barrett - Writer (book), Ron Barrett - Writer (book), Pam Marsden - Producer, Mark Mothersbaugh - Composer, Justin Thompson - Production Designer. Produced by Sony Pictures Animation. Distributed by Columbia Pictures.

Principal voices: Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Bruce Campbell, Andy Samberg, Mr. T, and Tracy Morgan.

The Informant! ****

A dark comedy about corporate and personal greed and the unstable highest-ranking whistle-blower in U.S. corporate history, "The Informant!" presents the true story of Mark Whitacre, vice president of Archer Daniels Midlands corporation (Matt Damon), and FBI Special Agent Brian Shepard (Scott Bakula), who handled him for three years. The video and audio tapes that Whitacre provided was the basis for a raid on ADM, but the story is not so simple as it might appear at first. Just what Whitacre was doing, and for how long, slowly comes to light, as his own delusions and deceptions run his life off the rails.

Director/Cinematographer Steven Soderberg tells this 90's story in a 50's style, with saturated colors and earnest delivery. It's a story told from an ironical distance, and if we start to take anything at face value, the almost mocking, cliche-ridden score by Marvin Hamlisch reminds us that appearances are not to be trusted. It's a well-told tale, expertly edited by Stephen Mirrione.

Matt Damon, who gained considerable weight to resemble the doughy Whitacre, gives an arresting and hilarious portrayal of the conscience-free Whitacre, constantly adapting his story and aggrandizing himself. Melanie Lynskey, in a memorable turn as Whitacre's wife Ginger, keeps us guessing. Is she his conscience? His accomplice? His dupe? But the cleanest, most emotional yet contained performance comes from Scott Bakula.

I liked "The Informant!" for its wit, its style, its humor, its performances, and the sure hand of director Soderberg. See it.

Rated R (for language). 108 minutes. Steven Soderbergh - Director, Scott Z. Burns - Writer (screenplay), Kurt Eichenwald - Writer (book) / Producer, Howard Braunstein - Producer, Jennifer Fox - Producer, Gregory Jacobs - Producer, Michael Jaffe - Producer, Peter Andrews (Soderberg's alias) - Cinematographer, Marvin Hamlisch - Composer, Doug J. Meerdink - Production Designer, Stephen Mirrione - Editor. Produced and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Principal actors: Matt Damon, Scott Bakula, Melanie Lynskey, and Joel McHale.

Extract ***

A sort of factory-set bookend to his cubicle-land "Office Space," "Extract" is Mike Judge's latest workplace comedy. While not, I think, destined to be a cult classic like its predecessor, it is nevertheless a well-observed, funny, and engaging look at management vs. labor America.

The owner of the flavorings factory, Joel (a solid, sane Jason Bateman), is faced with a lifeless marriage (played by the always interesting Kristin Wiig), a mutinous work force, and a confidante bartender/friend (Ben Affleck), who has a drug for every crisis. Judge captures both the aridity of contemporary gated-community life and the uninformed myopia of the working class, as well as the larceny that can hide in the hearts of drop-dead gorgeous young women (the, as they say, smoking Mila Kunis).

I especially enjoyed Affleck's turn as Dean the pill-popper, Bateman's long-suffering mister manager everyman, and J.K. Simmons as the plant manager who can't remember the names of his workers. It's a diverting movie that captures a slice of contemporary life not often seen, and for that it's worth your time.

Rated R. 92 minutes. Mike Judge - Director / Writer, John Altschuler - Producer, Michael Rotenberg - Producer, Tim Suhrstedt - Cinematographer, George S. Clinton - Composer, Maher Ahmad - Production Designer, Julia Wong - Editor. Produced by 3 Arts Entertainment. Distributed by Miramax.

Principal actors: Jason Bateman, Kristen Wiig, Ben Affleck, Mila Kunis, J.K. Simmons, David Koechner, Clifton Collins Jr., and T.J. Miller.

All About Steve (no stars)

"All About Steve" is derivative drivel, not funny, and occasionally insults your intelligence. The story involves quirky motormouth repository-of-endless-knowledge crossword constructor Mary Magdalene Horowitz (Sandra Bullock) who chases cute CCN cameraman Steve (Bradley Cooper) from disaster to disaster after a blind date, convinced they are perfect for each other.

Mary is, I suppose, supposed to be quirky but lovable, but is finally just irritating. Steve is a cardboard character who, I suppose, is supposed to be an island of sanity, but is finally just an uninvolved lump of masculinity telling Mary to go away. And the really big question, I suppose, is what do you suppose Bullock was thinking when she produced this picture? That she could make us like this weird character that no one likes? In the end, she doesn't pull it off, and the audience feels the same as everyone else: she talks too much and needs to grow up.

Preening newscasters are an easy target of this film, as are the superficial fixations of the media and the public's penchant for choosing sides in what should be private decisions. All well and good, and all deserved, but the easy laughs and gross, and I do mean gross, exaggerations just fall flat. There are a few varied locations for this semi-road picture, but somehow Arizona, Texas, and Colorado all look like the foothills of California, and are somehow close enough to each other that a van can drive between them in time to catch breaking news.

Bullock and Cooper, and Thomas Hayden Church as the newscaster, are pleasant enough to watch, but there's nothing they can do to save this turkey. Don't waste your money at the theater, don't rent it, and give it a pass when it hits free TV.

Rated PG-13. 98 minutes. Phil Traill - Director, Kim Barker - Writer, Sandra Bullock - Producer, Mary McLaglen - Producer, Tim Suhrstedt - Cinematographer, Christophe Beck - Composer, Maher Ahmad - Production Designer, Rod Dean - Editor, Virginia Katz - Editor. Produced by Fortis Films. Distributed by Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation.

Principal actors: Sandra Bullock, Thomas Haden Church, Bradley Cooper, Ken Jeong, DJ Qualls, Katy Mixon, and Howard Hesseman.