Ratatouille

Disney/Pixar

110 minutes

Rated “G”

I went to this movie thinking to see a slapstick tour de farce, a children’s cartoon, something to waste a couple of hours. I was both right and wrong. It was heavy on the slapstick, and had very lovable characters, but it was also one of the best buddy movies I have ever seen.

First the animation was first rate. I easily believed the characters and locations were animations of real people and places. It was done so seamlessly that the action flowed better than many live action pieces. And the food actually looked appetizing. I was watching the cooking and following many of the recipes as though there were real food being cooked on the screen

Second the voices were spot on perfect. You could believe Patton Oswalt was Remy the rat, Janeane was so perfect in her role I called her Colette when introduced for my interview. Linguini was not only voiced by but also influenced by Lou Romano, a production designer from “The Incredibles”. Brad Garret lent his incredibly deep voice for Auguste Gusteau, Remy’s inspiration and a world class chef.

Third the story was well written and had an air of believability about it. I found the writing made the characters real, even the rats.

So on to the movie itself. Remy wants what many of us want, a nice home, family, and a good job. His ideal job would be as a chef. One small thing stands in his way. Remy is a rat, aka Rattus rattus. He has been reading a cookbook by Gusteau titled “Anyone can Cook”. He has a very sensitive nose and is used by his father, Django, voiced by Brian Dennehy, to sniff the food they forage for poison.

During an emergency evacuation Remy is separated from his family and finds himself inside of Gusteau’s restaurant. Gusteau’s ghost assists him and serves as a Jiminy Cricket type conscience. Remy soon is caught in the kitchen and Linguini is ordered to drown him. One thing leads to another and soon they are friends. Remy discovers a way to operate Linguini like a puppet and they cook together wonderfully.

Ian Holm voices the manager/chef of the restaurant Skinner. Skinner keeps catching glimpses of Remy and slowly seems to lose his mind. Holm plays him much like Inspector Dreyfus from the Pink Panther movies, he knows something is wrong but he doesn’t know quite what.

There is betrayal, suspicion, love, and most fearsome, a food critic voiced by star of stage and screen Peter O’Toole. I have already seen it twice and will buy the DVD as soon as it is available. Oh yes, it kept the children in the audience entranced and there was only a mild amount of cartoon violence. I give it 5 stars out of 5 and recommend seeing it several times, you see more things you missed the first time.

Bob LaPierre