Five out of
Five stars
Running time:
110 mins
A delicious delight from start to finish, with a terrific script, great performances, sumptuous animation and a non-stop barrage of wonderful gags, both verbal and visual.
What's it all about?
Remy (voiced by Patton Oswalt) is a thin blue rat who lives in the French countryside with his decidedly less cultured family members, such as his nice but dim brother, Emile (Peter Sohn). After a food-related mishap, Remy gets separated from his family and winds up in the kitchen of a Parisian restaurant that was once owned by Remy's idol, Auguste Gusteau.
When Remy spices up a ruined soup, credit goes to the clueless kitchen boy, Linguini (Lou Romano), who is then ordered to reproduce his creation or lose his job. So they come to an arrangement whereby Remy will control Linguini's cooking from a concealed position under his hat.
The Good
Pixar have set the standards astronomically high over the past few years, but even by their own benchmark, the animation is breath-takingly beautiful here, from the gorgeous Paris cityscapes to the incredibly detailed kitchen layouts and animated food that looks so delicious you'll want to pull it off the screen. The rat movements are frighteningly realistic too, clearly the result of a lot of time spent studying actual rats in motion.
Writer-director Brad Bird is rapidly gaining a reputation as Pixar's genius-in-residence and on the strength of Ratatouille, the accolade is well-deserved. Bird's script is a delight from start to finish, blending meaty themes with delicious dialogue and brilliantly observed characters, while stirring in more hilarious visual and verbal gags than you can shake a spoon at.
The Great
The voice cast (no stars, just talent) are excellent, particularly Peter O'Toole, who relishes his part as sneering food critic Anton Ego – he's also the subject of the film's best joke. Oswalt is equally good and there's strong support from Romano and from Janeane Garofalo as Collette, the object of Linguini's affections.
Worth seeing?
Pixar have done it again – Ratatouille is simply wonderful and easily one of the best films of the year. Don't miss it.