Surprisingly nice entertainment on a dull summer afternoon.

Rating: 10/10 (10 July 2007)

Patton Oswalt--whose appearance on the Jay Leno Show makes me think of him as a straight Nathan Lane--is perfectly cast as the voice of Remy. A rat who feels he is born to cook food, rather than steal it from human garbage cans. Of course, the only thing standing in his way is that old human stigma about rats being diseased vermin.
Enter young Linguini, who later turns out to be the son of Remy's idol; the late, great master chef Auguste Gusteau (voiced brilliantly by Brad Garrett). Linguini wants to cook in the worst way...and that's initially how he does it! That is; until Remy learns how to control Linguini's actions by pulling on the latter's hair.
Between the two of them, they manage to put Gusteau's Restaurant back on the five-star map. Despite the worst actions of the jealous Monsieur Skinner, who's been using Gusteau's name and likeness to sell the most horrible kinds of frozen food!
Along the way, Remy reconciles with his traditionalist dad (voiced by the great veteran character actor Brian Dennehy). And, Linguini not only wins the heart of the lovely assistant chef Collette. He also impresses the aptly-named food critic, Anton Ego (voiced by the legendary--and lovably eccentric--Peter O'Toole).
In short, this is more than an old-fashioned love story. It's also a charming fable about not letting others dissuade you from what you really want to do with the rest of your life. Not if you're truly serious about it, to begin with. And, I will be slightly disappointed if this doesn't become the sleeper family hit of the summer.
P.S.---I can't help wondering if those New York City McDonald's rats got started this way?