Al rodente

So with fall break upon us, I decided to head over to the budget theater and I saw Ratatouille. Naturally, whenever a new Pixar film comes out, comparisons are immediately made to the previous films. When I look back on them, I see each one as uniquely great and can do a word association with each of them.

Toy Story has novelty
A Bug's Life has bravery (mainly for trying to follow Toy Story)
Toy Story 2 has the complete package (humor and adventure)
Monster's Inc. has whimsy and imagination
Finding Nemo has heart
The Incredibles has kick-ass action
Cars has nostalgia

So what indelible mark does Ratatouille leave us? In a word, elegance. And depending on how attractive you find that quality in a film will pretty much determine whether you like this film or not. This is undeniably the most visually beautiful Pixar film yet. I was in amazement at some of the sequences created for this film. Everything from the Paris skyline, to the rapids-like water flowing through the sewer, to the fine details found in a five-star restaurant's kitchen shimmers on the screen in illustrious beauty.

However, for the most part, the film seems to be constructed as a bunch of visually beautiful sequences without much in the way of story holding them together. If only the story was as multi-dimensional as the visuals created for this picture. That isn't to say that there aren't many things going on. There are several plot points peppered throughout the film, but none of them are explored with any depth. This is mainly because the two main characters with which the plot points are related to are fairly one-dimensional themselves.

The story focuses on a rat named Remy (voice by Patton Oswalt) who somehow has great culinary skills trying to help a young cook, Linguini, succeed in a once-great French restaurant. Given their peculiar relationship, each of them have to endure conflicts which prevent them from happiness. However, because their characters aren't fully explored, their way of dealing with their problems make them come off as unlikeable instead of sympathetic.

Only one character has an opportunity to flourish and that is the intimidating food critic, Anton Ego. His character succeeds at being memorable through the great voice work of Peter O'Toole. O'Toole manages to rise about the flat storytelling and create a character that immediately draws you in.

Overall, the film really lacks in the humor department and does not create many iconic characters. I think a lot of the credit here goes to the less than star-studded voice cast hired for the film. Patton Oswalt and Janeane Garofalo are serviceable in their roles here, but do not provide that added spark that are found in so many of the previous main characters of Pixar films.

I will say that, flawed plot aside, its conclusion was able to win me back to a certain degree. It naturally provided a happily ever after finish, but did so in a way that wasn't as conventional and didn't insult the audience's intelligence.

If we were grading this film as if it was being served on Iron Chef America, it would score high on plating and low on taste. If you are one that prefers style over substance, you're likely to fall in love with this movie. I find it hard to believe though that too many people fall under that category. In retrospect, it's hard to figure who this film should be marketed towards. Kids are likely to find the film lacking in humor and general fun, while adults will find the concept of a rat as a gourmet chef to be too ridiculous. It appears that this film is all dressed up with no place to go. This film, just like fine dining, is nice on very rare occassions, but for the rest of the time, the familiarity of home cooking will suit me just fine. Grade: B-