Like the titular dish (and a clever wordplay), Ratatouille is simple, subtle, yet a wonderful experience to be enjoyed by everyone, young and old.

Remy (Patton Oswalt) is an ordinary rat with an extraordinary sense of smell and taste. Remy's idol is world-renowned chef Gusteau (Brad Garrett), whose motto is that "anyone can cook." Remy dreams of becoming a chef, too, but his family thinks he's nuts, until his sense of smell saves the whole clan — that is, Remy is assigned the task to sniff out poisonous food.

A disaster on the home front forces the clan to move, and in the process Remy gets separated from his family and ends up, through the sewers, in Paris; and finally at Gusteau's kitchen. When a garbage boy, Linguini (Lou Romano), messes up the soup, Remy comes to the rescue. The trouble is, the soup is a sensation and the head chef, Skinner (Ian Holm), thinks that Linguini is a fake and demands that he re-create the soup. Having no choice, Linguini teams up with Remy in a Cyrano de Bergerac way: Remy will cook by hiding in Linguini's toque and controlling Linguini's hands and body. Working together with Colette (Janeane Garofalo), Linguini develops strong feelings for her.

Remy's cooking is creating a stir and reviving Gusteau's reputation as one of Paris's best restaurants, and rousing the curiosity of food critic Anton Ego (Peter O'Toole), who was responsible for taking two stars away from the once five-star Gusteau's. Meanwhile, Skinner suspects something is behind Linguini's success and he's determined to smoke out the rat, so to speak.

The voice talents in Ratatouille are phenomenal in that they all fit the characters perfectly, delivering lively and affecting performances. As Remy, comedian Patton Oswalt (The King of Queens) is delightful, reminding us of Nathan Lane but also creating his own brand of friendliness in his voice. As the klutzy Linguini, Lou Romano (The Incredibles, also Pixar's artist) is perfectly goofy and sincere. Remy and Linguini don't really talk with each other (while Remy can understand the humans, his speach comes off as squeaks in Linguini's ears), but their individual voices still create a wonderful overall dynamic.

Ian Holm (The Aviator) is remarkable as the frantic, conniving Skinner. He gave Skinner a wildly comical voice, which in the hands of a lesser actor could very well go over the top. As Colette, Janeane Garofalo (Southland Tales) is sweet but spunky. Sometimes she does go over the top and it's a bit difficult to understand her faux French accent. Brad Garrett (Music and Lyrics) provides a jolly and heartfelt voice for Gusteau, the chef who inspires Remy (and later becomes his conscience) to follow his dream. The standout is the formidable Peter O'Toole (Venus) as the feared critic. He helps make Anton Ego become one of Pixar's most impressive "villain."

As writer and director, Brad Bird (The Incredibles) is involved in every aspect of the production, and his magical touches are evident everywhere. Bird's previous works such as The Incredibles and Iron Giant have cemented his place in the world of animation, and Ratatouille will only further establish him as a god.

As with The Incredibles, the film is light in tone, high on humor (but void of crude potty jokes), and great with memorable characters and a plot that moves and twists. Sure, the theme of "follow your dream" is not new, especially in family films, but Brad Bird's story goes beyond that. For a G-rated family animation, the story is surprisingly mature. Clearly Brad Bird and Pixar had adults in mind when making this film. While children will definitely enjoy the animation, the action, and the cute characters, the themes are quite mature, and adults will truly appreciate the humor, dialogue, and story. It's not as flashy as The Incredibles or Cars, but I really appreciate the maturity of the story and the broad range of humor (from physical slapsticks to simple, funny lines).

Good writing is only half the battle. I'm pleased to say that Ratatouille does not disappoint as far as the animation is concerned. It's one of the most delightful, beautiful, and amazing productions even by Pixar's stellar standards. The rats move like real rats (without being grotesque), the furs look real, and Pixar has perfected the water, which is one of the hardest things to animate. When the characters get drenched, you can feel how their furs clump together or their clothes cling to their bodies. When they cook, you can almost smell and taste the food, which looks deliciously real. And Paris literally comes to life with amazing details — sometimes the sceneries are so photorealistic we really feel that we're there. The CG animation has the striking fluidity of hand-drawn animation, coupled with the details of CG, giving us a full experience.

For an animation nut like myself, Ratatouille is a marvel to behold. The story is wonderfully thought out, the performances pitch perfect, and the humor delightful. And for everyone else, the film simply entertains with an unexpected and satisfying finish. Even if you don't care about the lessons, you will no doubt be wowed by the quality of the animation and the lighthearted story about love, friendship, and food. After the movie, I bet you can't wait to rush home and find a recipe for ratatouille — I did.

Stars: Patton Oswalt, Lou Romano, Peter O'Toole, Ian Holm, Janeane Garofalo, Brad Garrett
Director: Brad Bird
Writers: Brad Bird, Jim Capabianco, Emily Cook, Kathy Greenberg, Jan Pinkava
Distributor: Pixar/Buena Vista
MPAA Rating: G for some intense moments that may scare little children
Running Time: 122 Minutes

Ratings:

• Script – 8
• Performance – 9
• Direction – 9
• Animation – 10
• Music/Sound– 9
• Editing – 8
• Production – 10

Total – 9.1 out of 10

This entry was posted on Monday, June 25th, 2007 at 7:29 pm and is filed under Celebrity Gossip, Movie Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

There’s a scene in Ratatouille in which a food critic is so overwhelmed by the food he eats that it alters his perception. It burrows deep in to his mind, finding a moment so personal and pure that the food itself becomes the embodiment of all life’s joys. Anyone watching Ratatouille, director Brad Bird’s follow-up to his first Pixar animated film The Incredibles, will undoubtedly react the same way the food critic did.

I loved Ratatouille. I loved its sharp and superlative animation. I loved its unexpected telling of a rather formulaic story. I loved the moments of slapstick humor and the darker moments of dread. In fact, it’s hard to find a part of this movie I didn’t love.

When we are first introduced to Remy (voiced by Patton Oswalt), a country rat with dreams of making great Parisian dishes and not of stealing scraps, the film doesn’t seem to have a leg to stand on. Yet, the paced progression of his adventure romances us in a ways rarely seen in most studio animations (none since Bird’s The Incredibles).

The moment Remy fixes a soup ruined by the garbage boy Linguini (Lou Romano), we are hooked into Ratatouille. The Remy/Linguini cooking team (Remy with the nose for cooking controls Linguini’s hands) ends up impressing food critics, the public, and a certain female cook with an eye for Linguini.

Of course, Head Chef Skinner (Ian Holm), who is set to inherit the famous restaurant in which Linguini works until he discovers Linguini is the rightful heir, doesn’t like the new guy getting attention. Likewise, the food critic Ego (Peter O’Toole), who brought the once five-star restaurant down a star, doesn’t want to see any revitalization. Just when Remy and Linguini are in a position to take on both Skinner and Ego, Remy’s lowbrow rat family, from which he was luckily separated, finds him and wants to bring him back to the colony.

Sometimes the hardest part of writing a review is describing the story because it often necessitates talking about plot points out of context. Until you see the moments I’ve described, you don’t really get the full picture of the amazing success that is Ratatouille. It’s an unlikely success to be sure, this easily unbelievable story about a rat using a man as a puppet, but Ratatouille works because it does exactly what great movies are supposed to do: it makes you want to believe.

Yes, there is magic in Ratatouille, but its magic cannot be credited to the Pixar brand. Even more so than The Incredibles, the humor and heart in this film singularly reflect what writer/director Bird has to offer audiences as a true auteur of animated film. While the appeal of Pixar’s sensibility has waned thanks to its last two non-Bird releases (Finding Nemo and Cars), Bird has been a refreshing individual voice who can reinvigorate and reinvent what Pixar has to offer. Ratatouille is the best example of this yet. And thanks to Bird, animation’s master storyteller, Ratatouille is also the best film so far this year, animated or otherwise.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 18th, 2007 at 7:28 pm and is filed under Celebrity Gossip, Movie Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

It is that time of year again, you know, when Pixar unleashes their latest creation upon an unsuspecting public. It is the time of year when some speculators begin to wonder if this will be the first failure to come from the animation house that can seemingly do no wrong, or if this will be the one to rival Nemo for the highest gross, or if they will simply be able to match last year's success.

I am not here to discuss the potential box office merits of this latest film, but what I will tell you is that it is an absolute joy, another triumph for Pixar, and another feather in the cap for writer/director Brad Bird. Simply put, Ratatouille is a must-see film for people of all ages.

The story seems like a simple one. A rat named Remy (Patton Oswalt) living in the country outside of Paris has discovered that he wants something more than a life of stealing and eating garbage, and his highly developed sense of smell could prove to be his way out of his current lifestyle. Following an incident that chases Remy and the rest of the clan out of their country abode, Remy finds himself separated from his friends and family. At first, he is scared and unsure of what to do, but his love of food, cooking, and Chef Gusteau gives him hope, particularly when the lonely rat visualizes Gusteau as someone to talk to and get inspiration from. This leads to his meeting with Linguini, a nervous garbage boy with cooking aspirations.

Together, Remy and Linguini navigate a relationship that, if exposed, would prove to be rather detrimental to both of their livelihoods. So, with Remy's gourmet cooking skills, and Linguini's human appearance, they form a cooking powerhouse that takes the cooking world by storm while they break down the barriers that exist between their two species.

The movie is so much more than a "rat that can cook" story. There is a moment early on when Remy's brother, Emile (Peter Sohn) asks him about why he goes into the house, and the dangers of humans. Remy responds with something along the lines of "Look at what they can do, what they can create." I do not remember the exact words, but it had an effect on the rest of the film. The scene gives this wonderfully optimistic outlook that pervades the rest of the film. It is only strengthened later on with a scene between Remy and his father where Remy says that it only takes one person to begin change. Combine that with Chef Gusteau's quote, "Anyone can cook," and you have the core of this movie. You can do what you put your mind to. It is a great story of friendship that has gravity and a sense of the real world it. Sure, Remy can move Linguini around like a marionette, but I am allowed to give up that conceit as it works quite well.

What works very well for this movie is the writing; it follows a natural progression, has nicely developed characters and is just a delight to listen to. The approach is not to create a talking animal comedy, rather to create a film where the characters come alive. Compare this to, say, Shrek the Third. In the ogre movie the characters are there to set up the gags, whereas in in Ratatouille the gags are created organically out of the characters. It is very good writing.

The film as a whole is reminiscent of the old screwball comedies, with the well written characters placed in zany situations leading to physical comedy. The jokes throughout this movie are very good, plenty of jokes in the dialogue, lots of physical gags. All of this is told with some of the most gorgeous animation to grace the big screen yet, right there with Cars as the best seen yet.

Brad Bird just keeps turning out great films. From his debut with The Iron Giant to the Pixar masterpiece The Incredibles to this, he can do no wrong. He has a wonderful grasp on how to create these vivid characters and create the situations around them out of them, rather than letting the outside desire to reveal plot or tell gags be the driving factor or the stories. Plus, he has some great talent providing voices, particularly Patton Oswalt as Remy and Janeane Garafolo, with a great French accent, as Colette. There is also nice work from Peter O'Toole as Anton Ego, a food critic who serves as the villain of the piece.

Bottom line. This is another winner from Pixar; it tells a funny story with great characters and really gives you an uplifting feeling as you leave the theater. It is definitely a step up from Cars and approaches The Incredibles. This is a movie that you will want to make a point of seeing on the big screen for its masterful blend of story, gags, comedy, heartfelt moments, the works.

Highly Recommended.

Christopher Beaumont spends much of his time writing about entertainment when he isn’t sitting in a movie theater. He is known around the office as the “Movie Guy” and is always ready to talk about his favorite form of entertainment and offer up recommendations. Interests include science fiction, horror, and metal music. His writings can be found at Draven99’s Musings, as well as Film School Rejects.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 18th, 2007 at 6:59 am and is filed under Celebrity Gossip, Movie Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.