Boring but beautiful

Rating: 6/10 (9 July 2007)

Sorry, guys, but after all the hype this film received as a "meaty" animated film, I just can't agree that this will be a "classic" or some kind of turning point in animated film. I was bored from beginning to end, except for the scene with Anton Ego and his great speech about the critic's role in life. I mean, who is this film geared toward? Are kids the least bit interested in inside jokes about gourmet food prepared by a rat who wants to be a chef? (Anthony Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential," with his assertion that most people working in restaurants are ex-criminals, was all over this, of course.) It wasn't amusing or persuasive, and the storyline was entirely predictable and not much of a story anyway. I used to tell myself stories to make myself go to sleep at night about rabbits that wanted to swim like frogs and such--and this feels about as far-fetched and thin. It IS beautiful in its animated effects, of which it is rightfully proud--but maybe this is the problem. The process has taken over the content. I really wanted to like this, but it really fell flat.