I confess: I am not what one would call a die-hard fan of animated movies. I will admit that the trend of celebrities voicing them has definitely won points with me, as has the
trend to pitch some jokes at adult levels in there. So while my knee-jerk reaction to seeing an animated feature coming out is usually, "eh," movies like Shrek, Monsters Inc., and Finding Nemo have done their part to change my mind.
This year's animated offering from Pixar is Ratatouille, the tale (pun intended) of Remy (Patton Oswalt), a French rat with an unusually discerning palette and a flair for cooking. When Remy gets separated from his family, he winds up at the Paris restaurant of his favorite chef--the late, great Gusteau (Brad Garrett).
There, Remy forms an unusual friendship with down-on-his-luck Gusteau garbage-boy Linguini (Lou Romano), and the result may just be a winning enterprise for both of them: Linguini finally gets to keep a job, and Remy gets to live his dream of being a gourmet cook. But there's only one problem: What would Paris's gourmet elite say if they found out their meals were being cooked by a rat?
Ratatouille opens well enough with a little faux-French documentary that reminds me of those "Home of Tomorrow" Looney Tunes episodes that I used to love. I was excited to see that, and thought it might have a lightly subversive humor going for it that would absolutely win me over. That was not to be.
Ratatouille quickly took up the saga of Remy and his family, and in so doing became very predicable, and I hate to say it--bland. I've come to expect humor in the big animated features, and that was not the case here. Ratatouille fairly plainly told the story of Remy's unusual desires and big dreams that make him not fit into his rat community and make his family unable to understand him. There were bad guys and good guys, struggles and stereotypes (evidently stereotyping the French is okay), but none of it succeeded in truly nabbing my interest.
The humor that is included in Ratatouille is mostly of the physical variety (lots of 'Uh-oh, is Linguini going to fall over?' gags)--a type which only works, in my opinion, when executed by John Ritter or Zach Braff. Sadly, neither of them is in this movie. I do suspect that the physical humor and the prolonged, not-very-tense chase sequences will curry favor with the children who go to see Ratatouille, they may be some of the only parts that do. If the child sitting behind me in the theater is anything to go by, Ratatouille skews a little older. This kid was all but rolling on the floor during the opening short, but let out nary a peep through Ratatouille--except to ask what was going on and when they were going home.
Still, even I could appreciate that the animation was beautiful. The color palette, especially, was warm and appealing, and the characters were refreshingly unique and modern looking--with Linguini's freckles and Chuck Taylors and his friend/co-chef Colette's (Janeane Garofalo) cool, purple-y hair. And the biggest hurdle--making a rat a compelling and empathetic protagonist--was one writer/director Brad Bird appears to have jumped with ease.
Like several other movies I've seen lately, Ratatouille really makes a case for itself in the third act. When the fate of the restaurant and Remy and Linguini is finally on the line, the movie picks up steam and finally becomes genuinely interesting. I only wish it had been able to do that sooner.
Judging from the reaction of many of my colleagues, I think Ratatouille can expect to rake in the accolades. But if you're more of a tough customer like me, I think you'll only find it so-so.
ReelzChannel Rating: 