21st September , 2007

DAVID ADAMS

Ratatouille (PG)

In A Word: Delicious

NO DIRTY RAT: A rat named Remy runs into trouble when he dreams of becoming a great French chef.  ©WALT DISNEY PICTURES/PIXAR ANIMATION STUDIOS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED   "This is a story with a heart and soul, filled with laughs and lessons about life as it celebrates what’s most important - friendships, family and never being afraid to follow your dreams no matter how unlikely."

It’s a warm-hearted tale, ala Finding Nemo, about being able to follow your dreams. Remy (voiced by Patton Oswalt) was a born a rat - which is unfortunate because unlike other rats Remy has well-developed palate and doesn’t like to eat the garbage others, like his brother Skinner (Ian Holm), so willingly do.

His sense of taste leads to trouble and the rats soon find themselves fleeing from their home. Remy finds himself separated from the rest of his family during their flight and ends up along in the streets of Paris. But as luck would have it, he finds himself in the restaurant once owned by his culinary hero, Chef Gusteau (voiced by Brad Garrett of Everyone Loves Raymond) - a big-hearted man with the democratic catchphrase ‘Anyone can cook’ who died some years ago but pops up repeatedly in the film as a figment of Remy’s imagination.

He’s not long at the restaurant before he’s spotted and he soon finds himself about to be dumped in a river by a wannabe chef who can’t cook, the kitchen boy, Linguini (Lou Romano). The two strike up an unlikely friendship (well, perhaps unlikely is an understatement) and Remy soon finds himself helping Linguini to cook up some tasty treats which soon become the toast of Paris, attracting the attention of the harshest of critics, the extraordinarily skinny Anton Ego (Peter O’Toole).

Mayhem ensues as the pair try to keep this deception while dealing with a burgeoning love affair (Linguini) and a hungry family used to stealing whatever food they need (Remy).

As one would expect from Disney and Pixar - those behind the likes of Toy Story and Cars, the production is of an incredibly high standard and so evocative of Paris that at times one can almost forget it’s an animation. Indeed, such is the enchantment of this Brad Bird-directed story that one even overlooks scenes involving veritable armies of rats scrambling over food.

This is a story with a heart and soul, filled with laughs and lessons about life as it celebrates what’s most important - friendships, family and never being afraid to follow your dreams no matter how unlikely. See it on the big screen and you’ll want to buy the DVD...and get into the kitchen.

SEE THE SIGHT ON THE SCREEN ARCHIVES FOR MORE...