A scrumptious Pixar pastry that is only harmed by some hollowness in its middle

Rating: 8/10 (1 July 2007)

Ratatouille, Brad Bird's third feature (after the scintillating Iron Giant and The Incredibles) measures up to his oeuvre. It's a fine film with wonderful animation, a charming story, and a slam bang finale that had me laughing. The story, in brief, is that Remy the Rat has the dream (and the talented nose) to be a great chef. Through a series of misadventures, he finds himself in the kitchen of Gusteau's, a former five-star restaurant now clicking over on the reputation of its deceased former owner, the great chef Gusteau, whose ghost (or else figment of Remy's imagination) is mentor to Remy. Remy develops a relationship with the hapless Linguini, a garbage boy in the kitchen with a secret past, and through him begins to return the restaurant to its greatness.
If the film has a weakness, it is in the second act. The baddie here is the head chef, Skinner, who is anxious to retain control of Gusteau's in order to launch lines of frozen foods. The problems here are that the main conflicts do not really play out. Once the relationship with Remy is established, Linguini becomes more interested in the only female chef in the kitchen, Colette (voiced by Janeane Garofalo) and for whatever reason begins to treat Remy as an afterthought. Since Remy is his only link to culinary glory, he has to be an idiot to treat the rat this way. Remy's personal inner conflict is based on the fact that he longs to treat humans to new culinary delights, while he is made all too aware of how humans feel about rats. Last, Skinner is concerned that a secret from Linguini's past will loosen his hold on Gusteau's. This is dealt with in the most perfunctory manner - Remy finds out, steals some documents, there is a chase (which is very well done) and then Skinner is out. Skinner never truly develops as a villain anyway, and his performance is probably the least weighty. Remy's conflict about how humans feel about rats never feels authentic. He knew about this all along, and he obtains far too much joy from creating new dishes to ever walk away from Gusteau's once has gotten his foot in the door.
However, once Linguini gains control of Gusteau's, and has wowed customers through Remy's genius, comes the big test - Anton Ego, the Simon Cowell of food critics, whose word can make or break a restaurant. He is initially developed as the baddie of the food world, but in fact this character is the heart of the film - he may be terrifying, but in fact he loves food, loathes mediocrity, and is honest. His visit to the restaurant, while Linguini is dealing with a full-scale kitchen mutiny, is the comic and action highlight of the picture. It is one of the best, and funniest, climaxes of any films on screen this year. And to understand how this can be, in a scene where the interaction is primarily between the kitchen and dining room, requires someone to see the film. Peter O'Toole does a superb job in voicing Ego, and his take on the evening, and his discovery about Remy (when he insists on meeting the chef), that he later writes up in his review is one of the most sterling pieces of critical journalism to ever appear in a film, ever. I highly recommend Ratatouille. The performances are terrific, the animation is wonderful, and so what if some parts of the plot drag or are never adequately realized. It is nonetheless a terrific movie.