Film Review: Ratatouille

“Not everyone can be a great artist...but a great artist can come from anywhere”
-Anton Ego, Ratatouille
Ratatouille, the latest entry into the Brad Bird canon, is a salute to all things bold and individual. As in the director’s previous films (The Iron Giant and The Incredibles), the unique is celebrated and embraced...once it has been given the chance to prove itself. This is not accomplished overnight, but through a series of character building trials in which the hero risks life and limb. These problems can be extremely problematic when you’re, well, a rat.
Remy (Patton Oswalt) is a country rat with a passion for cooking, a hobby which borders on obsession that frequently leads the lovable rodent into situations that seemingly ruin his life. In the first instance, his amazing sense of smell goes from saving his fathers to making him into his family’s “poison checker”. When Remy tries to teach his dim, but loving brother, Emile (Peter Sohn) the finer aspects of taste, they end up being struck by lightning, causing the discovery and subsequent destruction of their gargantuan nest. The family is separated in the ensuing evacuation and Remy finds himself alone for the first time. When he rises from the baptismal waters of the sewer, the young rat realizes he has been under the streets of Paris, more specifically, the restaurant of his cooking idol, Gusteau (Brad Garrett). It is there that Remy’s gift finally begins to shine. After befriending Linguini (Lou Romano), a talentless, but somehow charming plongeur, the two team up to fulfill their dreams.
Bird's work is exceptional here. I found myself liking Ratatouille much more than his previous Pixar installment, The Incredibles. While clever and entertaining, I found it simply had too much going on to really identify with any of its wonderfully colorful characters. Ratatouille feels much closer to The Iron Giant in terms of character development and life lessons garnered (the size differences in the protagonists of each not withstanding). Both films are about coming to terms with yourself and choosing who you are. In this day and age, where everyone seems to be clamoring over the same designer handbags and Abercrombie couture, it is refreshing to experience a film that blatantly celebrates not only individualism, but its acceptance by the one most likely to denounce it...a critic. Thus, Ratatouille is a morality fable for the artist’s soul and visual eye candy for the viewer. While not everyone can make a great film, this one solidifies my own personal belief that good films come from Pixar.