Film review
In Pixar Animation Studios' "Ratatouille," the Parisian rat Remy (voiced by Patton Oswalt) fulfills his dream of becoming a gourmet chef with the aid of his man-marionette, Linguini (voiced by Lou Romano), who also gains in the arrangement.
Have a nice juicy peach!
I'm referring to Berkeley Breathed's great 'toon for today. (Really -- see it. Now.)
It's true that the United States of America is going to shit, that we are sinking like the Titanic, but fuck, we can't wring our hands 24/7. Not even I can, and I'm an expert hand-wringer. (Kiss me and call me Cassandra!)
So now and again, let's see the beauty where we can while we still can.
Go catch a great movie, "Ratatouille," and for a little while forget about the iceberg that we're about to hit (well, wait a minute -- global warming might have taken care of all of the icebergs already...).
"Ratatouille," the latest from Pixar Animation Studios, is about a young Parisian rat named Remy who longs to be a gourmet chef. Eating garbage, which interests his cohorts, holds no interest for him; he wants to discover what new and wonderful things he can do with fresh, quality foods. When he is suddenly, unexpectedly separated from his family, he gets his chance.
That's about all of the plot of "Ratatouille" that I want to rehash; "Ratatouille" is so brilliantly scripted that to rehash its plot in any detail is to diminish the film.
It's true that "Ratatouille" borrows its basic storyline from all or most of the other Pixar films, such as "Toy Story," "Finding Nemo" and "Cars": The protagonist finds himself rather suddenly separated from his family or from his group and has adventures and learning experiences during his quest to reunite with his family or group. At the end of his quest he finds that, having overcome obstacles and defeated foes, he is stronger and wiser than he was before his journey, as are those who have shared in his journey, including even us in the audience.
But hell, Pixar's formula works. "Toy Story," "Finding Nemo," "Cars" and "Ratatouille" are all wonderful films, despite their plot similarities.
"Ratatouille's" animation is absolutely amazing; Pixar tops itself with every new release. And I don't think that I had laughed out loud during a movie so much since "Borat." (Probably the funniest scene in "Ratatouille" is the one in which bitter food critic Anton Ego [voiced by Peter O'Toole] has a flashback to his childhood, not entirely unlike Willy Wonka's trip back to his childhood in Tim Burton's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." And Janeane Garofolo, voicing the character of the assertive Collette, also adds spice to "Ratatouille," as does the villainous half-pint Skinner, voiced by Ian Holm. [Speaking of Collette, while the character is a strong woman -- my favorite kind in films -- the Pixar peeps should think about making more of their protagonists female, as the majority of the Pixar protagonists have been male, which is a bit conventional and traditional for the fairly progressive Pixar.])
Being the analytical type, I see a similarity between Remy's situation and that of many if not most young gay men: the conflict between being and doing what one wants to be and do versus what his family or group expects him to be and to do. And many if not most men who like to cook to the point that they want to make it their profession are indeed gay. But Remy is portrayed as a pretty asexual rat (he has no love interest in the film), and anyway, to overanalyze "Ratatouille" is to diminish its magic, which has to be experienced and which no film review can capture, so I won't go there any further than I already have (although if there is a sequel, I expect to see a same-sex rat wedding, damn it! And although the character of Remy might be straight, the character of Anton Ego has to be gay -- I mean, come on!).
"Ratatouille" is a bit longer than it has to be; at almost two hours long, a good 10 to 15 minutes could have been pared from it.
But the film's few flaws are overpowered by its brilliance.
My grade: A
P.S. The Pixar short film titled "Lifted," shown before "Ratatouille" and a bit reminiscent of Pixar's "Monsters, Inc.," is pretty damned funny, too.
6:08:32 PM 
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