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"Ra·ta·touille, n. A vegetable stew of Provence, typically consisting of eggplant, zucchini, onions, green peppers, tomatoes, and garlic, served hot or cold."
--Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary
Note: In the following joint review, John and Jason both wrote up their comments on the film, and John also wrote up the Video, Audio, Extras, and Parting Thoughts.
The Film According to John:
It seems a little ironic to me that among the first collaborations between the Disney and Pixar studios is a film about a rat. After all, Disney is the house the mouse built. Substituting a full-fledged, French rat named Remy for the cutesy-poo, All-American Mickey is quite a change of image for the Disney folks. In this case, it's a much-needed change of pace and a decided improvement.
No doubt the first thing a viewer figures on in a Pixar animated movie is the CGI artwork, and 2007's "Ratatouille" does not disappoint. It seems as though the animation just gets better with every picture Pixar produces. Here, we not only get photorealistic backgrounds, we get some of the most thoroughly minute character depictions ever, although, to be sure, the characters are still recognizably cartoonish. It's a small step beyond what we got in "Monsters Inc.," but it represents the same general idea. And those backgrounds! They are three dimensional in their realism, photographs come to life, while still retaining a proper make-believe aura. Oh, and remember when water used to be one of the most-difficult things for animators to reproduce effectively? Not here. You'd swear the water was, uh, well, water. Quite an accomplishment, actually.
More important, the story line is worthy of the artwork and quite thoughtful for a cartoon. It's all about a rat named Remy (voiced by Patton Oswalt) with a highly developed sense of taste and smell, who dreams of becoming a chef. But, you know, he's a rat, which pretty much limits his opportunities. Until fate comes along in the form of the great Gusteau (Brad Garrett), the recently deceased chef of one of Paris's most-famous restaurants. It was Gusteau's motto that "Anyone can cook," and Remy takes it to heart, with Gusteau as his newfound inspiration. Through a curious set of circumstances, Remy learns to read, learns to cook, and winds up in Gusteau's old restaurant. Then, of all things, he begins mentoring a young garbage boy, Linguini (Lou Romano), in the art of cooking. Under Remy's direction, Linguini becomes a success. Sort of. Because, you see, the plot reveals a load of complications along the way, including Remy's demanding father, Django (Brian Dennehy); his undemanding brother, Emile (Peter Sohn); an unscrupulous and tyrannical new boss of Gusteau's old restaurant, Mr. Skinner (Ian Holm); a lovely, young, rising cook at Gusteau's, Colette (Janeane Garofalo); and an incredibly snobbish and influential Parisian food critic, Anton Ego (Peter O'Toole, who steals the show).
In many ways "Ratatouille" is probably a little too sophisticated for many younger children, yet the film makes up for it by offering a compensating number of thrills and adventures to keep everyone entertained. All the talk about gourmet food and five-star restaurants, for example, will go over the heads of most youngsters, as will the subplot involving Skinner's machinations to take over the ownership of the restaurant, and maybe even the romance between Linguini and Colette. Then, too, a window full of dead rats may be unsettling for kids of any age.
What the film will do is give audiences a new perspective on rats. I daresay it will make a lot of moppets beg to own a pet rat. I wonder how many kids petitioned their parents for just such a thing, and I wonder how much it must have delighted pet store owners.
Above all, however, there is an abundance of sweet moral values in "Ratatouille"--messages about family, friendship, love, sharing, and understanding--that tower over the rest of the proceedings. The movie's final twenty minutes are triumphant, delivering a climax that is as moving and meaningful as anything you'll see in films of any sort.
Besides, can a movie be bad that has at least two characters in it who resemble Mr. Creosote from Monty Python's "The Meaning of Life," or a critic who drives a classic Facel Vega automobile? I think not.
John's film rating: 8/10.
The Film According to Jason:
It's my personal belief the Best Animated Film Oscar should be renamed the Disney-Pixar Excellence in Animation Award. Why? No studio or production house has, with any regularity, managed to climb to the heights of the Walt Disney Company, nor have they met the extraordinarily ambitious standards set by Pixar. There are pretenders and contenders to the throne, but one fact is undeniable: Pixar continues to set the bar by which all other animated films are judged. Their latest, "Ratatouille," takes the bar set by the recent outings of "The Incredibles" and "Cars," smashes it, and sets it even higher. This is notice that Pixar wants the Oscar back from "Happy Feet."
In the French country, Remy (voiced by Patton Oswalt) spends his spare time away from his clan, watching a gourmet cooking show hosted by Gusteau (Brad Garrett), a morbidly obese chef with a once-renowned restaurant in the city of lights. His motto of "Anyone can cook" inspires Remy to watch the show every day, dreaming of a time he can combine ingredients in the same way Gusteau does. He is separated from the clan and he finds himself in Paris, right underneath Gusteau's restaurant, now run by the maniacal Skinner (Ian Holm), more concerned with slapping Gusteau's likeness on frozen food than about recapturing former glory. At the restaurant, a new garbage boy (Linguini, voiced by Lou Romano) is mistaken for a gourmet chef, and Remy and he combine forces to create succulent dishes.
If you stop to think about what is on the screen--rats crawling in and out of the holes in Swiss Cheese, for instance--it's likely you'll be repulsed. After all, who wants any kind of animal touching their food? But put that thought aside and look at Remy and his friends as more than rats. If it helps, pretend they're people. Just small, furry, squeaky people. And then all will be forgotten.
"Ratatouille" is better looking than all the $200+ million blockbusters put together, and it's happily accompanied by a very simple message: Give credit where credit is due. The laughs start instantly, culminating early in a wild woman with a shotgun taking potshots at the swarm of rats living in her attic. When the ceiling collapses due to her scattershot shooting and the fuzzy creatures of all shapes and sizes (and colors) swarm through the kitchen and out of the house, we can't help but think two disparate thoughts: First, how can this woman not have heard the pitter-patter of all those little feet above her and, second, dear lord, do that many rats live in my attic? All the while, we're laughing our collective asses off.
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[release]21995[/release]