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Title: Ratatouille
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Parents, this movie is suitable for all audiences. |
Movies, like food, are a form of expression and masterwork. You have all different sorts of movies, and like foods they all have their own individual flavors. "A Mighty Heart" tasted like a tough, juicy meat that may have been difficult to stomach, but leaves a lingering taste in your mouth that you are not soon to forget. "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" tasted like a cake that delivered a sugar rush and then left me feeling empty. "Live Free and Die Hard" tasted like a fast food meal, which was tasty and yummy, but easily disposable. If Pixar's latest film "Ratatouille" is to be compared to food (and it would be an insult not to bring in a food metaphor), then I would say it was like a home cooked meal by a family member. The texture is fleeting but rich. The taste simple yet powerful. The meal short but filling.
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In other words, we have a strong contender for one of the best films of the year. Like the great chefs they are, the genius's at Pixar have perfected another great movie. This one is about a rat named Remy, who is going through a bit of an emotional crisis. He has a wonderful gift of smell that can tell the difference between different spices, textures, and smells of food, the kind of scent many aspiring chefs wish they could have. Remy has this gift, and then finds himself reduced to using his gift to sniff garbage his rat pact brings him to make sure there's no poison in their loot (come to think of it, I'd be in a bad mood too if I was stuck with that job). Remy feels an urge to do something more with his life, and gets that chance when he ends up helping a hopeless Italian boy named Alfredo Linguini cook food for a three star restaurant.
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The restaurant, known as "Gusteau's," used to be a five star restaurant, but lost a couple of stars from a nasty food critic, and is now on the verge of selling out to cheap TV dinners and frozen tacos as a way to make money. Remy saves the reputation of the restaurant by cooking some winning meals through Linguini, who starts complicating matters by falling in love with his (only) female co-worker, a tough but kind French woman named Colette. And here is where you'll find the difference between a great movie and a bad movie. A dish that is filling and wonderful to savor, while other dishes are simply cotton candy. This movie is alive. It understands characters, it understands emotions, it knows what is worth telling.
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The visual style is a key ingredient in this movie, as there are many scenes where Remy envisions what his meals are going to taste like, and it's done with a simple but powerful visual element where we can see his taste buds in colorful style. Think of the number trick in "A Beautiful Mind" and replace the computer graphics with hippy colors. The characters come off as hopeless but realistic. Contrary to what the previews show, Linguini and Collete do harbor feelings for each other, and it's fun to watch how their love for each other developed. The movie takes it's time to let the two fall in love, and as an added side dish, we get to see them in an actual relationship for a good portion of the film. The previews thankfully didn't give away a majority of the story twists in the movie, and so much of the story came as a surprise to me.
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I felt like a customer who ordered something from a menu, saw the ingredients, but wasn't prepared for how good it was going to taste. A small role for the legendary Academy Award winning star Peter O'Toole is not a gimmicky "look, we got Peter O'Toole" moment, but rather fully fleshed out supporting role. At the end of the movie O'Toole's character give a great speech about how critics have fairly easy jobs. They have little to risk, the power of their opinion doesn't always have an effect on the population, but people put their works in front of critics with the hope that they will write positive things about their work. This scene brought a tear to my eye, I must admit.
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"Ratatouille" is the best animated film I've seen this year. It's one of the best films of the year. It's Pixar's best film since "Finding Nemo," and it's my third favorite Pixar movie behind the aforementioned "Finding Nemo" and "Toy Story 2." That stupid French song by Camille is so darn catchy I'm listening to it on my iPod while I type this review right now. It's a shame that critics don't have much power with their recommendations anymore. $50 million dollar advertising campaigns have made critics warnings of bad movies something that isn't taken seriously anymore, while reviews of good movies don't help a film much anymore. If this movie fails to make at least $200 million dollars I'm going to be really, really pissed off. It's bad enough that "Spider-Man 3" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" sucked up cash it didn't deserve, but now there are predictions that "Ratatouille" may be a bomb at the box office.
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I really pray that this isn't the case. I pray people read good reviews, that they see this wonderful film, and that they see it again if there is nothing else worth seeing (and that's a very strong probability at this point in time). But I get this nagging feels that the critics voice will not be heard, and that people are going to skip a truly wonderful film because there's not as much marketing money thrown behind it. Oh well, people choosing things that cater to the lowest common denominator over quality products is nothing new, and is certainly expected these days. After all, when you have Wendy's, Burger King, Jack In The Box, In-N-Out Burger, and Carl's Jr. out there, it's amazing to find that people still choose to go to McDonald's. Oy vey.
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