A Feast For All

Rating: 10/10 (3 July 2007)

Ratatouille (2007) ****
I'm not sure why, but I just can't allow myself to give Ratatouille anything less than full marks. As far as creativity in roles goes, its pretty standard dealing with humans (nothing new to animation there) and talking rats (linguistic rodents, been there done that). There are no talking cars or monsters or fish or super heroes. Ratatouille is an example of a classic storyline overhauled and directed at adults and children all the like. This IS a movie for everyone, young and old, rich or poor. To top it off, its without a doubt the most brilliantly piece of animated work I have ever seen.
The movie is at once elitist and proletarian. It takes the lowest of all creatures, rats, and uses them to defend intelligence and quality and at the same time ridicules snobbery. It makes the rats cute, but at the same time still unsettling, especially when seen in packs.
The film opens in the French country side, with a rat named Remy, our hero, jumping out of a window and then a freeze frame of him with glass smashing around him in mid air. Sound familiar movie buffs? It should. A direct homage to The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. This is just the first of many salutes to other films right up to Usual Suspects.
Remy gets separated from his clan and ends up in ol' Paris, which is stunningly animated right from the Eiffel Tower to the rotary and the cobble stones. To make a long review shorter, he meets up with the imagined ghost of the great Gusteau, who's motto 'everyone can cook' inspires the young rat. He is lead to Gusteau's restaurant, which has faded since his death, and is now run by a short temperamentally authoritarian chef. Remy manages to befriend a new kitchen worker named Linguini, who may or may not be Gusteau's son, who cannot cook unless Remy hides under his hat and uses some very interesting puppetry. Ratatouille takes classic character types and strips them down and removes the clichés and manages to deliver the unexpected. The film also takes those characters, their surroundings and the food they use to create their meals and animates then in absolutely stunning fashion. Every little detail is noted, from the look of a wet rats fur right down to the beats of water on fresh vegetables. The animation is nothing short of incredible.
Yes, Ratatouille uses big words that kids won't get - they will however get the point - and that is because this film is first and foremost, I think, for adults. The kid factor is just a side pot. The films defining monologue comes from a critic, who acknowledges the ultimate insignificance of a critics work, yet retorts that their work is made worth while by being able to influence people to try something, if even only a few. It also acknowledges that though not everyone can be great, greatness truly can come from anywhere. This monologue is perhaps the best ever given in an animated film. Like the rest of the movie, it delivers its point in eloquent fashion, but does it easily enough that a child can understand what its getting at. The movie is not overly hilarious . Its not always going for those big laughs. It finds joy in going for big payoffs in quality. Its a great story, and it never forces itself to be funny. That said, don't think that this movie isn't a laugher, there are lots of good little jokes that will have you smiling. And after all, its often more pleasant to just sit there smiling from ear to ear often than busting a gut occasionally.
And that is what makes Ratatouille so great. It truly is a film that manages to be ageless; defend quality through the lowest ranks while damning elitist snobs.
The critic's monologue was right: We can't all be great, but greatness can come from anywhere. And Bird and his team at Pixar chose the least likely of creatures to carry out that message, and I'll tell you, those rats get the job done.
4/4