ratatouille: goofy but good
Ratatouille
(G; 109 minutes)
As much as we dislike real-life rodents, that’s how much we seem to like them in movies. Think of Mickey Mouse, Mighty Mouse, The Great Mouse Detective or Rizzo the Rat on “The Muppet Show.”
But a street-rat gourmet? A cheese-stealing vermin who fancies himself a potential great chef?
It’s so goofy that it works.
“Ratatouille” does more than teach us how to spell an impossible French word for vegetable stew. It combines Pixar’s state of the art animation with director Brad Bird’s wondrous storytelling imagination. Set mainly in one of the great Parisian kitchens, this fanciful epicurean comedy turns an unpleasant premise – a rat touching human fare — into a fable about accepting every person or critter for his or her abilities, regardless of appearance, size or species.
The visuals are dazzling, the characters clever and the voice actors perfectly matched to their computer-generated images. Peter O’Toole, as the ultimate snobbish critic, steals the vocal show, while the kitchen sequences are wondrously realistic (except for the gourmet rat) but also vividly inventive.
Sure, it’s a silly story. So what? The jokes are plentiful and clean. And you may think twice the next time you want to call someone a rat.
“Ratatouille” gets a big B+.
Find more Bob Ross at BobRossMovies.com
Tags: film, review
Loading ...
