MOVIE REVIEW: RATATOUILLE

By Thi Xuan Hieu Ngo

Vesalius College – Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Course: Humanity HUM112E

Professor DeWachter

6 Sep. 2008

Ratatouille, released in 2007 by Pixar, is definitely one of the masterpieces in the genre of animation and comedy not only for kids but also for adult. There is no surprise that it won an Oscar and many other awards for being the best animated movie of the year and many other features (Awards for Ratatouille (2007)). My husband and I had so much fun last Friday evening when we rented Ratatouille DVD and watched it at home. Although we were hesitant at the beginning as to whether it could be a good choice because we heard that it was all about a rat in a kitchen. However, just like any other Director Brad Bird’s movie, Ratatouille did not disappoint us. It may be far from being perfect; but inspirational messages, creativity and complexity in such a simple story, amazing and memorable characters, excellent animation features, and interesting scripts make the movie essential viewing. Therefore, I highly recommend it.

Remy (Patton Oswalt), a member of a big family of rats living in Paris, dreams of becoming a chef after being inspired by the cooking philosophy of the late Gusteau (Brad Garrett), one of the most famous chefs in the city. Rather than digging up and eating the garbage as his loving father commands, Remy risks his life to raid food ingredients from kitchens and finds ways to combine them creatively. When there is an opportunity for Remy to cook in a restaurant founded by his favourite chef, the late Gusteau, he teams up with untalented Linguini (Lou Romano), who is Gusteau’s nephew and the kitchen’s garbage boy. Together they have to avoid suspicion of the kitchen’s ruthless head chef Skinner (Ian Holm) and the only female chef, Colette (Janeane Garofaldo) and impress Anton Ego (Peter O’Toole), a restaurant critic and Gusteau’s relentless enemy.

After the great success of The Incredibles released in 2004, Director Brad Bird continues to infuse us with engrossing storytelling and creativity with Ratatouille. It is true that the title “Ratatouille” and its simple story of a rat in a kitchen with the French setting do not seem worth spending one-hundred and one minutes and eight euros on viewing it at a cinema. But an inspiring message on pursuing our dreams and overcoming obstacles standing in our way may give us strength, determination, and optimism. After several deadly escapes from being caught collecting spices in an old lady’s cottage or practicing cooking in Gusteau’s restaurant, Remy never gives up. Although Remy’s dad shows him dead rats in a window of an exterminator shop and tells him that he cannot change this horrible fact, Remy still believes that “change will start when we decide.” When his dad asks where he goes, he replies “With luck, forward.” If Remy is not afraid of fighting for his dream and becomes a chef, why can’t we fight for ours? If Remy thinks nature can be changed and that rats can become friends with humans, why don’t we think there is always a possibility for seemingly unattainable things? Remy proves to us that only by moving forward can we make our dream come true. In addition, as society’s eating habits are shifting to frozen and fast food, Ratatouille revitalizes traditions of fine cuisine. While Skinner does not care about the heritage passed down from Gusteau and wants to exploit frozen, cheap menus as creativity in his menu, Remy, Gusteau, and Ego defend French cuisine’s tradition. Just like what Bird did for the The Giant Iron, he has transformed Ratatouille with a simple story of a rat in a kitchen into a masterpiece which is so funny, touching and thought-provoking!

What makes Ratatouille successful also lies in the rich and distinguished characters with their lively and gripping voices. Remy is so endearing when he explains his unusual desires and big dreams that make him not fit into his rat community and make his family unable to understand him. On the other hand, Skinner appears loathsome with his modest height, suspicious eyes, meticulousness, and narrow-mindedness. Vocal performance is excellent too. No one seems to be able to present Anton Ego as a villainous, threatening food critic as successfully as Peter O’Toole. No one may be able to define how boisterous the late Gusteau is as well as Brad Garrett. Linguini appears even more uncertain when Lou Romano is on the show. Obviously, it is their over-emphasized expressions, gestures and emotional voices that make them amazing and memorable characters.

However, the movie is not that perfect. I agree that some parts focus too much on an adult audience with relatively heavy dialogue, technical and French language used in kitchens, fast pace of speaking, and many scenes of ins and outs of professional chefs’ working. But the animated feature is so exquisitely realized that children involve themselves completely as if they lived in the movie’s world. Photorealism is excellent when everything from every small detail of every hair strand on the rat Remy to exteriors of lively Paris is presented as accurate as photographs. The animation is almost perfect when it is combined with intelligent, gripping, and funny scripts. Here are the scripts I love the most:

Narrator: [on television] Although each of the world’s countries would like to dispute this fact, we French know the truth: The best food in the world is made in France. The best food in France is made in Paris. And the best food in Paris, some say, is made by Chef Auguste Gusteau . . . Chef Gusteau’s cookbook Anyone Can Cook! climbed to the top of the bestseller list. But not everyone celebrates its success.
[cutting away to Ego]
Anton Ego: Amusing title, Anyone Can Cook! What’s even more amusing is that Gusteau actually seems to believe it. I, on the other hand take cooking seriously. And, no, I don’t think anyone can do it. (Memorable quotes for Ratatouille (2007))

Unfortunately, there are some details you may wish to be modified. First of all, the fact that Remy controls Linguini by pulling on Linguini’s hair as joysticks does not make any sense. What is more, the human interplay in some romance scenes between Linguini and chef Colette is somewhat awkward and not very convincing. While Colette appears serious, severe, experienced, and a bit too self-confident, Linguini seems dull, weak, and useless. Even worse, the friendship between Remy and Linguini appears not very voluntary and pure because it seems to be based on the fact the “I just need your friendship for what you have because I don’t have it.” For those who watched Toy Story or Finding Nemo and were inspired by the true admirable friendships between Woody and Buzz or Nemo and Dory, the friendship between Remy and Linguini may appear so disappointing. However, the loving relationship between Remy and his family (his dad and his brothers) is admirable: Remy sacrifices himself to save his brother Emile; he never steals food for himself but does so when his brothers are starving to death.

To conclude, Ratatouille is worth viewing because its achievements far outweigh its flaws. I am sure Remy can inspire you with his thoughts and dreams and that you will have a great experience.

References

“Awards for Ratatouille (2007).” 1 Sept. 2008. <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0382932/quotes&gt;

“Memorable quotes from Ratatouille (2007).” 1 Sept. 2008. <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0382932/awards>