Reviewed by Neil Davey
Stars the voices of Patton Oswalt, Peter O'Toole, Ian Holm,
Lou Romano, Brian Dennehy, Brad Garrett, Will Arnett,
Janeane Garofalo, Peter Sohn, James Remar,
John Ratzenberger, Jamie Oliver
Certification UK U | US G
Runtime 117 minutes
Written & directed by Brad Bird
With Ratatouille, Pixar finally confirm what many of us have suspected for years. It’s not for kids. The younger members of the audience will love the main character — a culinary rat who dreams of becoming a chef — and his assorted fuzzy cohorts. They’ll also adore the chase scenes and slapstick moments. But they’ll also probably find the 117-minute running time a little tedious and the wordy nature of the screenplay a bore, while the deeper themes and wistfulness will completely pass them by. And then they’ll no doubt ask their parents in the car home why they shed a tear or two earlier but are now beaming happily from ear to ear.
Remy is the rat in question, a culinary genius with an innate sense of how to combine different flavours into a work or art. The rest of the family though don’t share Remy’s gift. Remy sees food as colours and musical notes and weaves and composes masterpieces. His family don’t see anything in food but do see nearly everything as food. Surrounded by philistines, Remy dreams of running a five star restaurant in Paris, like his hero Auguste Gusteau. When Remy is separated from the rest of his nest, things look bleak but, by happy coincidence, he’s washed up in the sewers of Paris and opposite Gusteau’s own place. Since Gusteau died, standards have slipped and the critics — particularly uber-food writer Ego (O’Toole) — have turned. Remy could be the place’s saviour — if, of course, he can persuade anyone to eat food prepared by a rodent.
Coincidence throws Remy and the young garbage boy Linguini together. With Linguini as the hands and Remy as the anonymous brains, they start to cook up a storm and, as events speed out of control, the inevitable emotional rollercoaster / character arc (delete your least favourite cliché) comes into play. While the nature of the story is typically Pixar — it’s about trust! Friendship! All the usual themes! — you won’t really notice the shortcomings or its predictable nature. Instead, you’ll be purring with happiness at the animation — how do they improve every time? Surely it’s a finite thing? — relish the anti-critic stance (because yes, many of our number are seriously, seriously up their own arses, and that counts double for restaurant critics) and weep with pleasure at the climactic scene of Ego’s subtle comeuppance.
If you thought the end of Monsters, Inc., was a cracker, you ain’t seen nothing yet. It’s as perfect a 30 seconds as you’ll see in the cinema this century, a virtually silent scene that will make you laugh and bring a poignant tear to the corner of the eye. For that alone, you’d have to give Ratatouille full marks. As part of such a supremely enjoyable overall package, it’s probably time to find a new scoring system for Pixar films. We’ve got to do something: I’ve been giving ‘em full marks since Toy Story 2 and they keep getting better. Divine.
_______________________________________
SECOND OPINION | Hemanth Kissoon **** High-five to the ladies and gents at Pixar! They, like Japan’s awesome Studio Ghibli , demonstrate with deceptive ease what happens when story and dialogue are pushed to the fore. Every filmmaker should look to these two animation houses for how to make original entertainment without setting the standard to appeal to the lowest common denominator. Ambition, talent and hard work clearly merge. The entertainment begins before even the credits roll with the habitual short film. Lifted is about a young alien learning to use a flying saucer to abduct humans — it is full of wit, and like a great warm-up act puts a smile on your face for the main event.
Brad Bird is a great director full stop. He has a fantastic grasp of comedy and action. Ratatouille may not be as good as his previous effort, The Incredibles (what is?), but he packs so much detail into each frame without overloading it — a real feast (ahem!) for the eyes. There is a rat-a-tat (sorry!) of running gags — such as Remy is scurrying in the ceiling and spies a French couple arguing, the woman fires gun but is held at bay by the man, and then they kiss as though the fight was foreplay to passion. It is a sly dig/admiring nod at the French in particular, and romance in general. There is also a fantastic reference to the Proustian notion of remembrance of times past.
Aardman Animation’s Flushed Away has taken a little away from the originality of the movie, but cinema is littered with pairs (Volcano, Dante’s Peak; Deep Impact, Armageddon, etc). My only complaint is that Pixar’s characters have to learn a lesson (except the truly immoral), which feels a bit trite sometimes. Studio Ghibli’s works (Spirited Away, My Neighbour Totoro, Porco Rosso, etc) have grander sophistication in this regard. There is a visual kinetic energy to Ratatouille, as well as a wonderful appreciation of architecture and food. I would love to see a Brad Bird live action feature film!