Rat In The Kitchen
Written: Jul 09 '07
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Fine animation and performances, especially from Holm and O'Toole
Cons: Younger viewers may not understand the philosophical elements of the movie
The Bottom Line: Soup's up! Bon appetit!
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| pmills1210's Full Review: Ratatouille |
It's often been said that some of the finest cuisine in the world can be found in the restaurants of Paris. In the animated feature Ratatouille, we meet a surprising chef, and the secret of his success. The chef is Remy (Patton Oswalt), a rat who lives to enjoy the finest scraps of food the city has to offer. His brother Emile (Peter Sohn) and his father Django (Brian Dennehy) think he's a little crazy, but they allow for his perceived eccentricity. In their pack, Remy is the one rat who can sniff out the poison. They even have a place to live in the home of an elderly woman.
However, she soon discovers their presence, and chases them from her home with a shotgun. They run to the local stream and make their escape, but Remy gets separated from his pack, and soon finds the chance to pursue his dream of cooking. With him, Remy has the cookbook of Chef Gusteau (Brad Garrett), a restaurant owner who has recently died. He apparently died of a broken heart when food critic Anton Ego (Peter O'Toole) gave his establishment a less-than-perfect review. Skinner (Ian Holm), his former sous chef, now runs the kitchen with an iron toque.
When Chef Skinner conducts interviews for the vacancy in his kitchen, he receives a letter of recommendation for Alfredo Linguini (Lou Romano), a son of a retired employee of Chef Gusteau. The only thing Linguini can do capably in Skinner's kitchen, though, is throw out the garbage. When Remy finally reaches dry land, he is in the drains underneath the restaurant. He sneaks into the kitchen, where he sees Linguini trying to tend to an unattended pot of soup. Remy knows the spices Linguini is adding will make a terrible tasting soup, so he gets Linguini's attention and helps him fix the impending disaster. An angry Skinner catches Linguini, but must serve the soup that Linguini has altered.
The soup is a success, which gives Linguini an instant promotion. Skinner assigns his only female cook, Colette (Janeane Garofalo) to teach the new cook the finer points of soup preparation. She is the only one of the staff who had supported Linguini. Linguini and Remy become friends, and Linguini even does things to indulge his little chef. Remy, who is guided by the spirit of Gusteau, helps Linguini by giving him signals from inside Linguini's hat. The rest of the kitchen thinks their co-worker is a bit eccentric, but they don't quibble with the results. Skinner, though, does catch glimpses of Remy, but can't connect him to Linguini. Eventually, Linguini and Colette develop a bond beyond the kitchen. Meanwhile, Emile and Django find their way to Gusteau's restaurant, where they expect Remy to rejoin the pack and let them have free rein in the kitchen. Remy is torn between loyalties when Ego announces he wants to give the restaurant a second chance.
Ratatouille is an odd, but engaging, mix of comedy and philosophy from director and scenarist Brad Bird, whose credits include The Incredibles and The Iron Giant. Remy had always wanted to use his nose for something more than to be in poison control for rats. The first person who sees him as something other than a dirty rat is the late Chef Gusteau. During his life, Gusteau had even written a book entitled Anyone Can Cook, which Remy owns. Remy teams up with the one human who'd have a hard time preparing toast, much less the fare customers expect from a three-star Paris restaurant. In the process, Remy finds he has not just one family, but two. Both have high expectations of him.
Bird also has plenty of laugh-out loud moments. Remy and Linguini have to work out a system to make a tasty soup. When Linguini complains about biting, Remy resorts to pulling Linguini's hair and controlling him like a puppet. It is through this system that things grow more personal between Linguini and Colette. Oswalt, Romano, and Garofalo turn in solid comic performances, but the veteran actors Holm and O'Toole bring the biggest laughs. Holm is just as sneaky as he is demanding as Chef Skinner, who learns something about Linguini even the young man doesn't know. O'Toole puts the ego into Anton Ego, who thinks his educated palate will allow him to get away with writing anything. The Pixar animation is, once again, among the most eye-catching in its field. The food looks practically good enough to eat. The theatrical release also includes an amusing short entitled Lifted, where an alien unused to space travel tries to learn the finer points of alien abduction.
Ratatouille serves audiences comedy and lessons in equal measure. An odd couple learns to rely on one another to create a meal. Their creations find believers, who react differently when they learn what it takes to not spoil the broth. One rat determined to live his dream loses one family, only to find another one. During the process, he learns that not everyone can cook. For those who can't cook, he creates the dishes that make gourmets and other people very satisfied.
This is an entry in the French & English Finds Write-Off from ifif1938, in commemoration of her 500th Epinion. Please click on the hyperlink for other entries.
Thanks Barbara.
Recommended:
Yes
Movie Mood: Family Movie
Viewing Method: Other
Film Completeness: Looked complete to me.
Worst Part of this Film: Nothing
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pmills1210
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Member: Pat Mills
Location: East Chicago, In.
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"Nothing in moderation." - Ernie Kovacs. Read and enjoy!
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