Ratatouille ~ A Movie Review

Animated films are created for children yet, in reality, they appeal to the child in everyone. Disneyland is certainly successful, in part, due to this premise. But Walt Disney Studios is not the only ones in the business of making animated movies. Pixar Animation has brought animation to a new level with A Bugs Life (one of my favorites), Toy Story, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo and The Incredibles. Their latest joint creation is Ratatouille.

I absolutely adored this movie. It has the sounds, visuals, and story-line to keep kids of all ages captivated.

Remy (voices by Patton Oswalt), the hero in our story, has aspirations to be more than the typical, trash stealing rat his for which his friends and family are most known. He wants to be a chef and is inspired by his human Food Channel mentor, Chef Auguste Gusteau (Brad Garrett) whose motto is "anyone can cook". After Gusteau dies from a broken heart when his 5-star restaurant loses one of its ratings points, a series of wildly exciting mishaps lands Remy in Gusteau's kitchen. And cook is exactly what Remy does... in a very clever, slapstick way.

The story wouldn't be complete without a love interest and a villian. In this case, the romance is provided by Remy's sidekick, a young and clutsy lad named Linguini (Lou Romano) who falls for Collette (Janeane Garafalo), a feisty and assertive young member of the kitchen staff.

Ratatouille is a French peasant dish, a stewlike vegetable concoction with most notably, eggplant. And in a surprising move, Remy and his compatriots, serve their variation of this regional dish to restaurant critic Anton Ego (Peter O'Toole). This is, in my opinion, the best part of the movie. A brief flashback actually made tears well up in my eyes amd a moment later I was whisked back to the present with a huge smile across my face. Bravo!

And what would an animated movie be without a little message? Pursue your dreams with all the gusto you can.