Ratatouille is a freaking masterpiece.
I have just returned from seeing yet another Pixar film that has leapt off the screen and into my heart. This is the kind of gem that its production company, Pixar Films, is known to deliver, but there's something wonderfully fascinating about a rat that can communicate his love for life through the love of cooking. It comes as no surprise that it comes from one of our best storytellers, Brad Bird, who is a bit animated himself. Here is not just a great piece of animation, but also one of the best films of the year.
Remy, who sounds a bit like Paul Giamatti (but is instead wonderfully voiced by Patton Oswalt) loves to cook. He adores the creation of food and the serving of it, as we first witness with Patton and friends outside of a small house in the french country. When Remy is washed away into a sewer, he comes across a famous restaurant in Paris that takes pride in its all-important star rating.
Quickly, Remy is hooked. He wants to cook. But what is a rat to do? Simple: he will befriend Linguini (voice of Lou Romano), the "garbage boy" who is vulnerable and doesn't want to get into any trouble. Remy eventually befriends Linguini and convinces him that he can cook, so the two bring together a plan: Remy will provide all the work by staying on Linguini's body, while Linguini does all the show.
Ratatouille is two-fold: it is about the love of food and the creation of it, but it is also about someone who fights to do what he loves despite adversity. In this case, Remy is a rodent, he knows this and accepts that he is not human. But that does not stop him from forging a relationship with a human, who himself wants more out of life than what he has. Remy and Linguini's stories are fairly parallel, and their interplay as they each fault and stumble through the film is fascinating to watch.
These themes are brought carefully by Brad Bird, who with his team of animators and storytellers use sublety and careful storytelling to their advantage; it reminds me of the storytelling of Hayao Miyazaki, who is known for accurately balancing his characters and their situations instead of trying to wow us with computer animation. Mr. Bird is no exception; his 1999 film "The Iron Giant" is one of the best animated films of all time, and his 2004 film "The Incredibles" is a joy that will last generations.
Ratatouille may be his best work, however, as he is at the top of his game in how he tells this story. Nearly the entire film takes place in the restaurant, especially the kitchen, where Remy belongs. Mr. Bird reveals things slowly, taking his time to let us savor the experience, much like a good meal. I don't want to reveal much of the film's final act, which was something I was not expecting, and was blown away at Bird's audacity at how far he takes it. It brings everything to such an emotional high that I floated out of the cinema happy as a clam, and I'm still on cloud nine as I write this.
Which reminds me of a point that I have made time and again: animation is supposed to look animated. During the end credits for Ratatouille, there is a statement that guarantees that no motion capture has been used to animate any of the film whatsoever. This is a curious remark, as motion capture can be wonderful in its own right (see "Monster House") but Pixar's approach to storytelling is to take you out of the bounds of reality and let you loose into their own world. And there's nothing quite like it.
Ratatouille is a glorious entertainment, the kind of animated film that we should be seeing more often. It is a film for everyone, not just kids or the parents that accompany, but for every man, woman and child who loves a great story and the filmmaking that goes with it. T
his year has been a three-knockout punch for the mouse house known as Walt Disney Pictures; with Ratatouille, Bridge to Terabithia and Meet The Robinsons all stellar films, I have no doubt that we will be seeing great things in the future. Disney just isn't a cool new logo; with new people in charge of their filmed entertainment division (including Pixar head honcho himself, John Lassiter), they are quickly earning back their reign as the best in their game.****
Jason
efilmcritic.com
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