Brad Bird is my hero. When it comes to present-day directors, we always talk and revel about the works of Spielberg, Scorsese, Marshall, Almodovar, Tarantino, Scott, and Singer. God that's a lot of S's. Hmm. Anyway I digress. Where was I? Oh, the truth is Brad Bird has given me three movies which have not only entertained, but moved - The Iron Giant (criminally underappreciated), The Incredibles and Ratatouille. He's not just working in animation. He's working on a whole different level animation. Not from a visual perspective only. You expect that with a Pixar flick...but with the actual story telling.
His movies ain't just for kids.
See, unlike the Shrek's of the world or even last year's Happy Feet (which I loved), Bird's movies don't rely on pop-culture references for laughs, cuddly talking animals (um no the rats still look like rats) or well-known celebrities to do voice-overs. No Brad focuses on astounding us with unbelievable visuals and memorable storytelling.
Go figure.
And that's what you have with Ratatouille. Remy (voiced by Patton Oswald) is a blue furry rat gifted (or cursed) with the next level of olfactory senses. It's a gift in that he can combine different foods for the colony - a picked mushroom, piece of discarded cheese, a sprig of rosemary and lightning - and a curse because it makes him want to do more. Unlike his dad (Brian Dennehy) and brother Emil (Peter Sohn), Remy doesn't want to steal food for life...he wants to make it.
It also doesn't help, that the rat has taught himself to read cookbooks and he watches (in the kitchen of an old french woman) his favorite chef on TV, Gustaeu (Everybody Loves Raymond's Brad Garrett). Gustaeu tells everyone on his show to never let anyone limit your dreams, because anyone can cook. I love the Pixar themes. You never have to search for them, they come out and tell you exactly what the movie is about.
Remy believes him. And soon gets his chance. After he and his colony are separated on a river during a storm (god they really can animate water now), Remy finds himself not only in Paris...but underneath Gusteau's restaurant...which has gone from a five-star joint to a three-star. One star was lost when villainous critic, Anton Ego (Peter O'Toole) took a star away, which caused Gustaeu to die, which in turn, caused the restaurant to lose another star.
Gustaeu's is now run by midget (sorry vertically challenged) Skinner (voiced by Ian Holm). He doesn't dream of serving up delicious meals anymore. He wants to corner the market with a variety of Gustaeu frozen foods ranging from BBQ to Chinese food. The same night Remy shows up, a young loser named Linguini arrives at Gustaeu's looking for a job. He's the son of a mysterious woman who used to work there (won't spoil it).
Eventually through a ballet of mishaps (this was beautiful on the screen to watch) Remy and Linguini end up becoming cooking partners, unbeknownst to the staff. They have perfected a technique where Remy (who can cook) can control Linguini (who can't) by pulling his hair.
If only Willard had figured this out (inside joke).
Remy's dishes become the talk of Paris leading up to a showdown dinner between Linguini, Ego and Skinner. And Remy also finds Linguini love in the kitchen with Collette (Janeane Garofolo).
Strip everything away, Ratatouille is about two young men coming of age and finding friendship and learning what friendship really means. Paris and food had never looked better in animation. Peter O'Toole gives a moving speech at the end about critics. And Michael Giacchino's (composer for The Incredibles) hits it out of the park again with his Parisian influenced score.
Ratatouille is a sumptuous feast (there I had to put a food pun in there) for the eyes. It's a love letter to food and Paris. And a dish so worth enjoying. If you can get past rats cooking in the kitchen. And I mean lots of rats. :-)
FIVE BALL POINT PENS