Wonderful mindless fun - awfully good mindFUL fun

Rating: 8/10 (7 July 2007)

RATATOUILLE, the latest deservedly successful Pixar entry in the animation sweepstakes is effortlessly the best summer movie for families who want an outing that won't insult the kids and won't go over the heads of the adults. It really does have all the elements for cross-over cartoon success: cute fuzzy characters, front loaded (but "comic" - no gore and no one dies despite many shotgun blasts and talk of poison) violence, physical discomfort (as the "little chef" and his human counterpart work out their communication system), sexless romance (the human and the girlfriend he's desperate to impress) and a comic villain who the fuzzy character can defeat repeatedly in beautifully plotted farce choreography.
The capper, of course, is that the film also wants to be an allegory on people being judged on their ABILITIES rather than their appearances, being *honest* about those abilities (the fuzzy little guy is a great natural and self-trained cook, the human is neither) and the importance of TEAMWORK (the real trouble comes when egos get in the way). So far so good.
Unfortunately, it also has a massive caveat to the allegory and the enjoyment (knocking two points off the rating for me): rats in the kitchen. Well, um, yes, that will give some people pause if they actually think about what they are seeing (adults are inclined to do that). Rats are legally verboten in most places of food preparation - and it has nothing to do with anything that is their fault. They ARE cute and fuzzy, but they also may carry ticks and fleas which frequently carry disease. Living in less than cleanly places, they walk through places and things with high bacterial counts. Unhealthy.
The film is brave enough to realize they have to address this little problem - the baggage more sophisticated viewers who are flocking to Pixar's best work WILL being in with them - and so the film backs their comic villain (his initial defeat over "the will" is far to quick and "tossed off" to be as satisfying as it should be) with a restaurant health inspector who is comically dealt with temporarily, but since the authors couldn't actually kill him off or believably convert him, they were stuck for a predictably happy ending.
In a plot twist which young audiences will have to really scramble to follow (actually they may not care, but their parents who will have to explain it to them if they do will need to pay attention) they settle for a wise, if slightly melancholy one.
Does it matter? Not as much as you might think, but it does keep what comes very close to being a classic from true greatness and leaves the rightly enthusiastic audiences with just a very, very good film. Don't miss it - there is so much clever execution to revel in - but be prepared NOT to check your mind at the door. This is a film which might be more fun if you could, but will leave you with much more to think about when you don't, even if it undercuts the allegory and some of the fun. That in itself can be very satisfying.