Cinema Junkie by Beth Accomando

Rats in the kitchen! Mon dieu! A rodent with five star culinary aspirations is the main ingredient in Brad Birds latest animated concoction, Ratatouille (opening June 29 throughout San Diego).

Brad Bird came to animation as something of an outsider and a rebel. He was an animator on the decidedly dark and R-rated Plague Dogs (about abused lab animals) and his first feature, The Iron Giant , was not for Americas animation king Disney but rather for the upstart Warner Animation. But since then, Bird has been moving into the mainstream and into the Disney family with The Incredibles and now Ratatouille . Bird's films remain fun but there's not much left of that rebel, upstart attitude.

Ratatouille is a co-production of Disney and Pixar, the team that brought audiences last years Cars . Preceding their latest feature Pixar serves up a hilarious animated short call Lifted . In it a novice alien pilot tries to abduct a sleeping human with disastrously funny results. The short does what a good appetizer should do, it whets the audiences appetite nicely in preparation for what's to come.

The main course of Ratatouille involves a French country rat named Remy (voiced by Patton Oswalt) who dreams of being a chef at an elegant five star restaurant. Remy is blessedor cursed some might saywith an exquisite sense of smell and taste. But the rat pack he hangs with has no interest in haute cuisine. The other rats are only concerned about whether or not something is laced with rat poison.

Fate lands Remy in Paris where the spirit of the late great French chef Gusteau (voiced by TVs Brad Garrett of Til Death and Everyone Loves Raymond ) guides him to Gusteaus former five-star restaurant. But the restaurant, under the lack luster management of Skinner (Ian Holm), has lost a couple of its stars. Arriving at the restaurant at the same time as Remy is Linguini (Lou Romano) whos desperate for any kind of work. A kitchen accident prompts Remy to save Linguinis butt by fixing a soup the silly human had ruined. This leads to Linguini being hired at the restaurant and forced to prove himself. Of course he has no clue what to do in the kitchen but Remy does so the two form an odd partnership that brings Gusteaus restaurant renewed fame. But are patrons ready for a rat in the kitchen?

Ratatouille is yet another dazzling display of Hollywood animation technology. The ground level shots of Remy scurrying through the kitchen are a delight and breathtakingly fast. The animators even take care to give Remy rapid rodent breathing that makes his little chest rise and fall with nervous rapidity. Its a nice detail, as is the high angle shot of a food critic's office that's shaped like a coffin. The cooking sequences are also quite fun. The film seems to borrow from the BBC kitchen comedy Chef! in terms of the character types that populate the kitchen. Some of the characters even look physically modeled after the actors in that show.

Peter O'Toole provides the perfect vocal intonations for Anton Ego (Disney)

But for all the hijinks in the kitchen, Ratatouille has one major flawnot a single real or convincing French accent anywhere to be found. Plus for reasons unknown, Linguini speaks like an American (even though everything from his name to his parentage points to him being European). Adding insult to injury is having the very American Brad Garrett voice Gusteau who is supposed to be the epitome of French chef-dom. Couldnt they get Gerard Depardieu or someone with a true sounding French accent? I mean the role is just crying out for a real Frenchman. I think Ill check out the DVD when it comes out and see if theres a French dub track. The only voice that does work perfectly is Peter OToole as the snobbish critic Anton Ego who gets more than he bargained for from little Remys cooking. In fact the scene in which Ego samples Remys ratatouille is the single best moment in the film and it rivals the moment when the Grinch's heart grows three sizes too big in the animated How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Ratatouille (rated G) is enjoyable family fare. Its delivers exactly what youd expect and is aimed more squarely at kids that any of Birds previous work. It never pushes the bounds of animated storytelling in the way that Japanese anime does but it serves up simple fun. Its a lightweight confection rather than gourmet meal.

Companion viewing: BBC TV series Chef! ; The Cook, the Thief, his Wife and her Lover ; Babettes Feast; Mostly Martha; Fawlty Towers (the Basil the Rat episode) yunhe
July 10, 2007 at 11:44 PM
the scene where Ego samples Remy's ratatouille was remarkably similar to a Hongkong TV series i watched 10 years ago :-) It was also about chefs and cooking and trying to please a difficult high profile customer. They ended up making him stir-fried yam sprouts (what poor chinese ate) that touched his heart through childhood memories. -----

scooter
July 13, 2007 at 05:14 AM
Proust? Madeleines? I loved this scene as well. The forlorn look on the child Anton Ego was perfect.

biggest ratatouille freak
July 16, 2007 at 10:35 PM
i understand why there was no real French accent in any of the characters. it is sort of hard to understand Colette when she talks because of her "French" accent. there are different voices for different languages, Americans understand English better than French so that's probably why Linguini doesn't have a French accent. He talks a lot in this film and it might be hard for Americans to understand what he's saying. but i do think it's kind of wired that Linguini is the only character without some sort of accent. i know Ego doesn't exactly have an accent, but he doesn't need one. i just hope what im saying makes sense. and the scene when Ego has a flashback was the most memorable, and one of my favorites.

Satya
July 31, 2007 at 02:14 PM
One of the best animation movies. I am a great fan of Tom and Jerry (thought I am 26). It is amazing that the movie made people love a RAT !!!!!!!!!!! So cute, so funny... !! I would definitely buy the DVD !!

Michael
September 17, 2007 at 05:47 AM
What a wonderful movie! I couldn't have expected how charming, funny, a touching it would be. If only more movies were like this.

Ray
September 21, 2007 at 08:26 AM
I watched this movie with my older sister and my little niece. What a great movie! Will win an Oscar for sure.

Jose
October 02, 2007 at 08:12 PM
It is good

Hernandez
October 02, 2007 at 08:15 PM
I saw the movie with my girlfriend

JayBlanc
October 25, 2007 at 11:57 PM
Just a note over the 'French accents' and realistic representation of France thing... It's really not meant to be France, it's 50s Hollywood France, and is referencing a rich history of 'Paris' movies of the time.

Beth Accomando
October 26, 2007 at 12:28 AM
But that referencing doesn't pay off for me. I still think the film would have played better if at least Gusteau had a genuine French accent, like Gerard Depardieu, or if the accent was going to be fake to have it be over the top fake like something Robin Williams would do.

mike w.
October 30, 2007 at 08:09 PM
French accents? For the lkord's sake, *why*? These people are *speaking* French, even though we are hearing English. Giving characters whu would be speaking French an accent that they certainly would *not* have the equivalent of if they were actually voiced in Franch (or German or whatever) is the cinematic equivalent of "Whhosh!" and "BOOM!" sound effects in outer space scenes. You want voices that really sound French? Fine listen to the French track and read subtitles.

Beth Accomando
October 30, 2007 at 10:22 PM
But some of the characters do speak with accents and the accents are very fake. So if they decide to use accents they should serve a purpose within the story, in this case to sound real or to be used to comic effect. I enjoyed the film but feel that this was one thing they could have improved.

Amber H.
November 08, 2007 at 10:24 PM
of corse you are right, their should have been better accents, and you must have really really liked the movie if that detail is your only complaint. However i dont think the problem is the director, i think it might have something more to do with disney, look at mulan, only three charictors in that movie had accents, and they were all for comic effects.

M. Olvera
November 13, 2007 at 05:06 AM
I never went to see it at the movies, but I bought the DVD for my kids when it showed up in the stores. I have to say that the scene where the snobby food critic tries the "ratatouille" is the best representation of what tasting some exquisite meal feels like. And I have to say that the ending gives me watery eyes. This is one of the best CG movie I have seen.

Robert
December 03, 2007 at 09:47 PM
I didn't mind the absent/inconsistent accents. I especially didn't mind the excellent writing, consistent vocal characterizations and brilliant artwork. This, compared with Bee Movie, was a perfectly executed coq au vin next to a pile of Chicken McNuggets. To paraphrase a local promotion for opera, "This. . . was a MOVIE." I almost wept when Ego tasted the ratatouille. It made me want to made a batch for my family.

michele
December 06, 2007 at 02:30 AM
the dvd sold out on the first day at the store i work at - i had to go to a competitor to get a copy!! and i am looking for a recipe for ratatouille as a way to get the kids to eat some veggies - haha!! the movie has a message that even the hardest of hearts can be reached and softened, you just have to find what is the way to do it.