Which is not say that kids won't enjoy it too. I know at least one 5-year-old who curls up with his grandma to watch the Food Network. "Ratatouille," while ostensibly about a rat who dreams of being a great chef, is ultimately about the joy of creation, and few children are resistant to that.
Otherwise, the world would not know le mud pie. But there is no getting around this: "Ratatouille" is sophisticated, without apology. Its art form may be animation, but there is little cartoonish about it.
It is as beautiful as many of the classic hand-drawn Disneys of the 1940s and 1950s, and it even references the gorgeous modernism of "Lady and the Tramp." (It also sneaks in a little hand-drawn handiwork, including a beautiful retro credit sequence.) It is set in Paris, the epicenter of sophistication and snobbery, and has no small amount of fun pointing out the latter while admiring the former.
Sophistication (not to mention France) has come to be a bad word in the American movie business; it's often used to criticize directors like Jonathan Demme, whose "Charade" remake, "The Truth About Charlie," was accused of being too overtly artful. Maybe it takes a rat to remind us that elegance and good taste are something to strive for. That rat is Remy (voiced by the great stand-up comic Patton Oswalt), who is considered a sissy by his old man Django (Brian Dennehy) and weird by his older brother Emile (Peter Sohn), who can't understand his lack of appreciation for days-old vegetable rinds and chicken bones.
When Remy's unsanctioned foray into a country kitchen, looking for fresh ingredients to whip up something tasty, goes bad, he and his family are forced to flee in the sewers. They get separated, but fate leads Remy to the pantry of Gusteau's. Once one of the great restaurants of Paris -- the legendary populist cook who gave the restaurant its name and reputation is now dead -- it is ruled by the greedy Skinner (Ian Holm) who cares less about the kitchen than capitalizing on the name with canned and fast-food products.
The restaurant's decline has been hastened by restaurant critic Anton Ego (Peter O'Toole), who has taken away all its stars and branded it a relic. Remy arrives at the same time as Linguini (Lou Romano), a stammering, awkward kid with a letter of recommendation that turns out to have serious implications for Skinner. While he tries to sort things out, he employs Linguini as a garbage boy.
But one night, with the kitchen in chaos, Linguini is ordered to watch over a soup stock, and Remy, looking on, can't help himself. When Colette (Janeane Garafolo), the frustrated sous chef who has to mind the kitchen when Skinner is otherwise occupied, isn't looking, Remy concocts his own original soup. When it is served, the patrons love it, and the restaurant is packed with people wanting more.
Linguini gets the credit, but he can't cook: The only solution is for the boy to surreptitiously team up with a rat. That this bit of Cyrano de Bergerac-styled whimsy is pulled off at all is an accomplishment. The ingenious way it is done is something like brilliant.
Director Brad Bird, who established his talent with the little-seen "The Iron Giant" and the Pixar smash "The Incredibles," took over this stalled and difficult concept from another filmmaker and gave it real life -- making a heroic dish out of hash. Bird has also created one of the most memorable and original landscapes in animation. A great deal of "Ratatouille" takes place in the restaurant kitchen, which becomes a wondrous world of its own.
It is beautifully realized, from its worn wooden floors and stained tiles to fantastic fans, especially when experienced from a rat's-eye view. It is so believably rendered you can almost smell what's cooking. What is missing from this stew is what a chef would call a sense of proportion.
There are so many pots being stirred -- Remy vs. rat prejudice, Skinner against the restaurant, Remy's relationship with Gusteau (Brad Garrett) appearing to him as a spirit, and Linguini's relationship with Colette, whom he loves but deceives -- that it threatens to become oversauced. The richness and distinctiveness is overwhelmed by the need to add at least one ingredient that everyone will like.
But as in the real world, I would rather visit a restaurant with too much imagination and ambition than one with too little. "Ratatouille" has its heart, and its head, in this effort to serve up something unique and satisfying. This article does not have any comments associated with it Which is not say that kids won't enjoy it too.
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