Posted: 07/01/2007

Ratatouille

(2007)

by Hank Yuloff

Do you remember 12 years ago, when you sat in rapt attention at the new type of animation provided by a little, new company called Pixar? That film was called Toy Story, and we were all blown away. The picture was like no other. The way the hair moved was perfect. And the shadows… They even had perfect shadows! That was followed by the not-so-thrilling A Bug’s Life. Not as thrilling…but still quite amazing. Then Monsters, Inc. caught your attention as a make-believe world of our dreams. Then Finding Nemo. The Incredibles raised that bar, only to be topped by Cars. Man, you thought, this Pixar company is really something. What could be next? Here it is, as formed in my mind while I sat in the theater watching Ratatouille:

The one-word review: perfection. The two-word review: total perfection.

My two-year-old goddaughter’s review: “Can we watch it again?” Who needs that Elmo character… Little Remy, the rat who would be a chef, has stolen her little heart. Interesting that it is a rat from a Disney-partnered film who might take the place of another famous rodent… But I digress.

Since the Editor-in-Chief frowns on my one-word reviews, I should give you a bit more. Ratatouille (watch for this dish to be served all over Disneyland soon) is about a rat named Remy, who has an unusual nose for food and the ability to create cuisine. Inspired by the spirit of Gusteau, the most famous chef in France, he partners with a young boy named Linguini, who wants to be a chef but lacks all of the talents which live within the paws of Remy. Together they rescue Gusteau’s restaurant from oblivion and learn how to use their talents for the betterment of all.

We are far past talking about Pixar’s ability to produce superior animation. Combined with the previously released The Incredibles and Cars, we see that they have fully matured into the kind of film company which does not have to keep going back to the well (aside from Toy Story 2) to come up with new stories utilizing that animation. Brad Bird, who wrote and directed The Incredibles, once again does double-duty in this little bit of heaven set in Paris. I hope he gets to hear the kind of applause that our afternoon-showing audience gave him at the end of the film. This is a winner of a film.

Especially moving is the “Redemption Act,” which happens in most good children’s stories. That is where there is a villian who becomes good—sees the light and changes his evil ways. It won’t happen in the White House any time soon, but in Ratatouille, we witness the transformation of a food critic (one who has failed at movie reviews and still has a need to pick on someone who creates) into someone who just likes food for the pleasure it is—like Dom DeLouise. Peter O’Toole voices Anton Ego, a British critic living amonst them in France. Think classics like The Grinch and you will see his evolution. Remy is voiced by Patton Oswalt (from TV’s The King of Queens), and we will no doubt be seeing him for years to come on cooking show guest spots: “Bam—with guest-host, Remy.”

If you have kids, this is an immediate Gotta-See. If you have a date, this is an immediate Gotta-See. If you remember animation the way that Disney used to do it, this is a Gotta-See. If you have seen anything lately that you didn’t like (a certain other Disneyland-ride-themed movie comes to mind) then this is a Gotta-See. When I see a film that is so bad that I say that people who make films like this should not be allowed to make them, it is only fair that I say that people who make films like this deserve to have everyone go see them.

Hank Yuloff is a film critic living in Los Angeles.

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