Movie Review: Ratatouille
Disney/Pixar's latest film, directed by Brad Bird
With Ratatouille, Brad Bird and Disney/Pixar have crafted an animated movie that ranks with Walt Disney's best. 10/10.
In a summer where the major studios are offering reheated ground chuck, leave it to Brad Bird and Pixar to serve moviegoers a visual filét mignon.
Ratatouille is haute cuisine for the eyes, ears and heart, and that's the last cooking analogy I will use in reference to this film.
Young rat Remy (Patton Oswalt) stands out from his friends and family by virtue of his acute nose and palate. His father Django (Brian Dennehy) is delighted: his son can sniff out poisoned food but Remy wants more from life. Inspired by the great chef Auguste Gusteau (Brad Garrett) who says "Anyone can cook," Remy wants to try his hand in the kitchen. However, a rat in a kitchen is both death to the kitchen and the rat.
When disaster lands Remy in Paris, he soon makes his pilgrimage to Gusteau's eponymous restaurant. Unfortunately, the chef has since died and the restaurant is a shambles, presided over by the profit-hungry Skinner (Ian Holm), who bears more than a slight resemblance to a certain lordly Shrek villain. I guess Jeffrey Katzenberg's not the only one with a hate-on for Michael Eisner.
Another disaster presents Remy with a chance to make it as a chef: he meets neurotic garbage boy Alfredo Linguini (Pixar animator Lou Romano in his first leading role) and, by a curious chance, discovers how he can work in a kitchen. By pulling on Linguini's hair to control his movements, Remy can create the dishes he wants, and help save the restaurant from both Skinner and vampiric food critic Anton Ego (Peter O'Toole).
However, Remy and Linguini have help: both from Gusteau's ghost who dispenses sage (okay, I couldn't resist!) advice, and assistant chef Collette (Janeane Garofalo) who discovers her tough exterior softening around Linguini.
Brad Bird, and story originator Jan Pinkava, took a huge risk with this flick. If aspiring chef Remy had been a rabbit, a dog, or - dare I say it? - a mouse, this movie would have been an easier sell with executives and kiddies. But with huge risks comes huge rewards, and Ratatouille reaps big time. Remy is a brilliant hero, and we sympathize with every dip and bump on his way to cooking success. It also helps that, like in any great comedy, the gags come from the situation and aren't tacked on just for the cheap giggle.
It doesn't hurt that Pixar reminds us why they are the first name in CGI animation. The visuals are not only eye-popping but they advance our understanding of what's going on. Ego's office is a perfect complement to his character, with its coffin-shaped interior and skull-shaped typewriter. And the kitchen is an incredible set piece, both as a backdrop for the action and as a source of fear and wonder.
Speaking of fear and wonder, Remy's journeys through the claustrophobic sewers and pipes of Paris contain constant reminders of the dangers that await rats in their environment. It's scary, but nothing that wouldn't frighten kids who have seen Snow White or Bambi. As Django reminds Remy in one disquieting scene, not everything in this world is sweetness and light. By refusing to succumb to the "fluff and flowers" that usually infests family programming, this movie goes beyond simple entertainment and moves into the realm of art.
However, great visuals are nothing without a great story with heart, and this is where Pixar's movies stand out from the crowd. Sure there are some plot holes (how can a clumsy character suddenly become a graceful maitre'd?) but they are mere nitpicks when applied to this flick as a whole.
Ratatouille sets a new gold standard for Pixar, and is a movie that stands alongside anything from Walt Disney's Golden Age. Whether this movie tanks in theatres or becomes the box office champ of this crowded Summer of 2007, know that one day, there will be a Ratatouille Platinum Edition. Count on it.
Trailers included with Ratatouille include Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, Mr. Bean's Holiday, Bee Movie, Underdog, and WALL-E. There's also the hilarious short film Lifted, which follows a trainee alien trying to abduct a human.
