Ratatouille

Ratatouille (pronounced rat-a-too-wee) is the latest animated offering from the Disney and Pixar stable. This has been released in Belgium earlier than the UK, where it opens on October 5 , and 5 of us went to see it on a wet Saturday afternoon - 2 adults, 8- and 6-year old girls and a 3-year old boy. The title of the film is a play on words, drawing the attention to food and rats.

= WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

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Remy is a rat with a special talent - he has a nose for different flavours of food, and longs to experience the whole universe of taste. However, his sole role seems destined to be poison checker for his colony of rats, until he ends up on his own in Paris. Enchanted by the chance of experiencing the wonders of capital of cuisine, and led on by the legendary figure of Gusteau (the great figure of chef who died after losing one of the stars from his gourmet restaurant's 5 star rating), Remy ends up in Gusteau's former restaurant. At the same time, Alfredo Linguini arrives, desperate for a job and clutching a letter of recommendation from his recently deceased mother, who was very close to Gusteau. Linguini is taken on to take out the garbage, but through a series of mishaps, ends up cooking soup in the gourmet restaurant. Certain disaster is only saved by the intervention of Remy. When the soup wins critical acclaim, the situation becomes more critical - Linguini needs the rat to tell him how to cook, the rat needs the human to fulfil his dreams.

The scene is thus set for the rest of the film, set against the commercial ambitions of Skinner, Gusteau's successor in charge of the restaurant and potentially the rightful owner under the terms of the will. However, Skinner sees the future in microwave meals for the American market, in betrayal of Gusteau's ideal of everyone can cook and should aspire to the finest cuisine. However, as the good reviews start drawing customers and interest back to the restaurant, Skinner tries to assess whether Linguini is for real, or whether there

is some ulterior motive relating to the terms of the will.The kitchen's sole female chef, Collette, is asked to take Linguini under her wing, but rivalry and prickliness comically turns to into something more. But whose dreams will be fulfilled - Skinner's, Linguini's, Remy's or even the other rats who come looking for their former colony member? Will Remy and Linguini's mutual dependence on each other remain a secret, or what unforeseen implications will its disclosure have?

= CHARACTERISATION AND PLOT

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The character of Linguini, who goes from loveable loser to lucky winner and then starts believing his own publicity is engaging, and is not wholly two dimensional. Remy also struggles to come to terms with who he is, and is pulled between the rat's justifiable mistrust of humans and his symbiotic relationship with Linguini which blossoms. Skinner is mostly the copybook pantomime villain, but there is just a hint of a broader picture, as he is genuinely curious about the meal that has to be serves for the critic. Anton Ego is portrayed in such a way as to paint critics as the perennial villains, yet again there is just a chink of enlightenment at the end.

There are quite a few layers to the plot, such that I found it difficult to give a short summary with enough information to give a good picture of the plot, without (hopefully) giving away too much of the plot. The summary I have written barely scratches the surface of the last hour. The various strands are brought together with typical Disney aplomb, and with a healthy dose of Disney schmaltz. (Incidentally schmaltz is the Yiddish word for goose fat, which is used to add flavour, and there is an expression "to fall into the schmaltz pot" meaning to have unexpected good fortune - a good metaphor for this film.) The main plotline is strong enough for the young children to follow, while there are plenty of twists and turns and nice touches for the adults to get their teeth into.

=ANIMATION AND SOUNDTRACK

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The onward march of computer assisted animation continues. The definition of the characters is excellent, the humans being depicted is similar forms to those in the Incredibles. The fur on the rats seems very sharp, but the most impressive animation comes with the wide scenes of Paris. Here real footage seems to merge seamlessly with animation, particularly at night with the car headlights blinking in the distance.

The soundtrack is pretty unremarkable, which considering what could have been down in the way of hackneyed accordion music is not such a bad thing. Instead, the only music I remember was one passage accompanying typical scenes from Parisian life, with music which could have accompanied a Renault Clio advert.

The voices were good, and I admit to not noticing any particularly distinctive voices. However, there are several big names - Ian Holm, Peter O'Toole, Janeane Garofolo and Brian Dennehy to name the ones I know best. To its credit, Ratatouille is not a vehicle for one particular star.

= DID WE ENJOY IT?

=The verdict of the adults was that it was a 6 or 7 out of ten. The film has a running time of 110 minutes (almost the same as Cars which also felt long), and in the middle it seemed to drag a bit. On the whole, we have seen worse, and the many sub-plots are tied up well, and there are some amusing bits for adults. I particularly liked the coffin-shaped office of the critic Anton Ego.

The two girls loved it and want to see it again, the older one saying she prefers it to Evan Almighty, which is high praise indeed. There are plenty of high-speed chases throughout the film, but I wouldn't say there were many belly laughs. My 3 year-old got restless in the middle, but the last half hour held his attention up to the end.

= A FILM TO BUILD BRIDGES

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There has been much hype over here about this film, since the press have decided this is a movie to build bridges between American public opinion and France, which reached its nadir during the build-up to the Iraq War with Chirac's arrogance towards US allies in Europe, French fries being renamed "Freedom Fries" and the infamous Simpson's quotation about "cheese-eating surrender monkeys". Here, the town by the American film makers towards France and the French is warm, bordering on the reverential. Quite simply, the film takes as its starting point the French's own view of themselves - that France has the best cuisine in the world, Paris is the culinary capital and is the city of lights, lovers and romance. Even one of the villains of the piece, the critic, helpfully is given an English accent, to help the audience know he's one of the bad guys.

The French press in particular has taken to the film, and you can see why. Everyone likes to see someone else portraying them as they would like, and after 5 years of antipathy, this is like a reconciliation between feuding relatives. There is very little by way of negative stereotypes, except that Americans know and care nothing for good food.

= OVERALL EVALUATION

=This is definitely a winner for all the family, although not Pixar's best. The animation is phenomenally good, the plot more intricate and subtle than most. I feel that there were fewer laughs than other Pixar films, but it is suitably life affirming and uplifting. Gusteau's motto was "everyone can cook", which is refined over the course of the film to great talent for cooking can be found anywhere. Thus the spirit of the great chef lives on, even if the form the dream takes changes.

Overall 7/10

= TRIVIA

=Some, but not all of these from imdb.com

- The animation team worked alongside chef Thomas Keller at his restaurant French Laundry in order to learn the art of cooking. Mr. Keller also appears in a cameo role as the voice of a patron at Gusteau's.

- During a street scene, there is a mime in the background, who is the character "Bomb Voyage" from The Incredibles, also directed by Brad Bird.

- When the rats are trying to drop a gargoyle onto a car, it looks like Victor, from the Disney movie The Hunchback of Notre Dame

- Skinner, who tries to put Remy in a Box, is named in reference to the behavioural psychologist B.F. Skinner, who was known for the "Skinner Box", where rats were placed and trained to push a button for food.

- The plot line referring to Gusteau's death may have been inspired by the case in Paris of Bernard Loiseau, who committed suicide when it was it was rumoured that his restaurant, La C te d'Or, was going to lose its maximum three-star Michelin rating.

= PRACTICAL DETAILS

=Running time: 110 minutes (including credits, which have no outtakes or particular jokes)

UK Certificate: U

Main character voices:

Patton Oswalt - Remy

Ian Holm - Skinner

Lou Romano - Linguini

Brian Dennehy - Django

Peter O'Toole - Anton Ego

Brad Garrett - Gusteau

Jeanane Garofolo - Collette

Co-directors - Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava

Writers - Brad Bird, Jim Capobianco, Emily Cook, Cathy Greenberg, Jan Pinkava

Ratatouille is a genius piece of animation. It is simply stunning, with a completely engaging plot line, lovable characters and a wonderful message of equality. Definitely a message to send to children and to remind adults of. It is a tremendous movie, worth your time no matter what your age.

For me, I felt that Ratatouille was an excellent film, perhaps because anyone young and old can relate to the films main character 'Remie', a rat with big dreams hoping to achieve the impossible, and despite others who are reluctant to believe in his ambition, becomes a fantastic chef.

I think the quote 'not anyone can be an artist but an artist can come from anywhere' from the film shows the moral side of the story, while being very gentle to watch.

Pixars best film yet!

Overall I think that Ratatouille is a great film for all the family to enjoy. Lots of children with agree with this.It is funny, enjoyable and a great film because it includes sad times, happy times, fun times and hard times for the rat.

Do you think that this film is as good as we say? Well then, why don`t you watch it for yourself!!!

This movie is a great departure from the tired old genre of family films that cast animal only creatures.

This movie is about a family of mice, one in particular, who yearns for something other than just eating garbage.

He wants to be a chef!

The plot involves he and his family relocating from the French countryside to the heart of Paris (unwillingly).

As he is separated from his family, our hero finds himself in a 3star French restaurant. He secretly tries his hand at a soup recipe, while going unnoticed in the kitchen.

A stumbling, young busboy stumbles into the story and accidentally take credit for the brilliant soup.

He and the mouse eventually pair up, while the mouse hides under his chef hat, controlling him in every way by pulling his hair.

Peter O'toole does the voice of the evil food critic and does a darn good job of it, too.

Tis is a great movie for everyone and I implore you to watch it. Pixar really struck gold with this one. It is different, humorous and witty.

BUY IT!

The Ratatouille movie is great if you want to go out and find a movie for you and your family to watch. If you have little ones this should keep their attention. I highly recommend it.

Funny and touching while relevant to animal rights.

Anyone of any age could find something special in this film.

I also think because it has no 'super-famous actors' it focusses on the story rather than the celebrity. Ensure you have a comfortable seat though as it long.

Ratatouille is a fantastic children's film while relevant. Exciting for people of all ages, and full of comedy. 20 out of 10!

Ratatouille is well Animated, funny and a good storyline. Another fantastic production from the Pixar team and its nice to see that originality is still there.

Ratatouille is a good all round family film. Really fun and easy to watch and the film had loads of funny moments. Disney-Pixar produce some excellent films together and Ratatouille does not disappoint! Hilarious, well animated and enjoyable