"If you are what you eat, then I only want to eat the good stuff."

Rating: 8/10 (16 September 2007)

In the last decade or so, beginning their incredible run with 'Toy Story,' we've come to expect nothing less than masterpieces from Pixar studios, and they've rarely  if ever  disappointed us. My favourite Pixar animated feature to date would probably be 'Monsters Inc.,' followed by 'A Bug's Life,' with the remainder of their CV not dwelling too far behind. Nobody in their right minds would consider producing a children's film that featured rats lurking around kitchens, and yet, not only is director Brad Bird in his right mind, but he's also made it work. Welcome to the beautiful city of Paris, France  the food capital of the world - where a young and aspiring rat named Rémy (voiced by Patton Oswalt) dreams of becoming a first-class chef, despite the complete lack of support from his family and human beings' natural aversion towards rodents. Welcome to 'Ratatouille.'
At the heart of every great Pixar film is a fantastic story, often simple but always funny and touching. 'Ratatouille' (pronounced, we are told, "Rat-a-too-ee") teaches us to always pursue our hopes and dreams, whatever obstacles or limitations are placed in our way. It was directed by Brad Bird ('The Incredibles'), who took over from Jan Pinkava in 2005. Though the plot is perhaps just a tad predictable, the screenplay is beautifully written, with an abundance of funny one-liners and colourful characters. Whilst Rémy refuses to eat nothing less than the best, his older brother Émile (Peter Sohn) will gobble down any garbage he finds, and his father (Brian Dennehy) assigns Rémy  due to his uncanny ability to smell the ingredients in any food  to become the colony's resident poison-sniffer. When Rémy fails in his attempt to steal fine herbs from the kitchen of a crazy old lady, he becomes separated from his family. The legendary but recently-deceased chef, Auguste Gusteau (Pixar regular Brad Garrett), who had inspired Rémy with his motto "anybody can cook!" appears before the rat as a shadowy figment of his imagination, offering him guidance and advice.
Thus, Rémy stumbles his way into Gusteau's fine-dining restaurant, now managed by the devious Skinner (Ian Holm). A lot of the physical comedy in the film comes from Linguini (Lou Romano), the garbage-boy at the restaurant, with whom Rémy reaches a tentative arrangement: by hiding himself beneath Linguini's hat and controlling his movements by yanking at tufts of his hair, Rémy will be able to demonstrate his expertise for food preparation. But will he be able to accomplish this without arousing Skinner's suspicion? And can Linguini successfully win over meat and poultry chef Colette (Janeane Garofalo), the most aggressive cook in the kitchen? Of course, they must then contend with Paris' most-dreaded food critic, Anton Ego, voiced with great relish by cinema legend Peter O'Toole.
Visually, 'Ratatouille' is a masterpiece. Of course, there still remain huge innovations to be made in the field of human animation, but the rodents themselves look absolutely fantastic. An early scene, in which a huge group of rats charge frantically towards the river, looks so incredibly realistic that I pity any audience member suffering from musophobia. Additionally, the nighttime panoramas of a brightly-lit Paris are nothing less than magnificent, with every minute detail of the city painstakingly translated onto the screen. The film is an exciting blend of comedic and dramatic scenes, and elaborate action sequences, each executed with care and patience. The foods all look delicious, as well. The scene in which the ruthless Anton Ego is rendered speechless by Rémy's delicious serving of ratatouille niçoise is handled exceedingly well, and I must admit that a tear came to my eye when the "peasant dish" swept the sullen critic back to his glorious and almost-forgotten childhood. I don't think the friends I brought along to the cinema would agree with my assessment, but 'Ratatouille' is undoubtedly one of the finest films of the year.