‘Ratatouille’ Diseased
By Jon AtwoodEntertainment Editor
July 4, 2007
What makes food such a worthy art form is how it stimulates the senses.
Writing, painting and music do it in a vicarious sense. We imagine what it is like to have the sensations that pass through the artist’s body run through ours.
But food smacks our senses for real. It dazzles sight, allures smell, enchants taste in one stimulating moment. It reaches the body directly and attacks its nerves feverishly.
Yes, food certainly deserves an elevated position on the art totem pole.
And just as certainly, “Ratatouille,” does not.
What if a rat, a creature stereotyped as an eater of absolutely anything, turned out to appreciate food on a level higher than most humans? This is the intellectually stimulating question that Pixar’s latest production asks us. And so begins the magical stupid journey of Remy (Patton Oswalt), a Parisian rat with a taste more elevated than the rest of his rat clan, who teams up with lowly janitor Linguini (Lou Romano) to take Gusteau’s Restaurant in Paris by storm.
How can I express how uninspired the plot is? Everything is so contained. There’s no sense of adventure. It’s trapped in its own mission to explore the wonders of food. I’m not saying I don’t love food. But if we’re talking about a rat surviving in a human world, it’s too limiting and dull to just have him hiding under some kid’s hat.
“Ratatouille” takes itself seriously. There are few, if any, one-liner jokes that pervade and ruin other similar movies. In here we see a story that attempts to genuinely depict a rat whose fur shines a little brighter, whose smell smells a little stronger, trying to break lose of the rat conformity through food.
If only Remy had the movie’s time and devotion he needed.
The story focuses more and more on Linguini as it moves along, focusing on his relationship to the deceased Gusteau, one of the world’s most famous chefs, and therefore his rightful place in the restaurant headed by the evil chef Skinner (Ian Holm).
What a mistake.
Nothing distinguishes Linguini as an independent character. Nothing makes him special, except for the fact that his head is filled with cobwebs. Circumstances advance him forward, and it feels as pointless as dragging a boulder across the country.
Not that Remy really develops better in the end. Sure he’s a gifted chef. But the movie lays it on real thick. It eventually has him pulling Linguini’s hair to make him perform the exact functions that Remy wants him to. He relates to everyone, be it rat or human, only through food. All he really talks about is food. I guess an artistically gifted rat, a rat that can talk, is still just a rat.
To its credit, the relationship between Remy and Linguini advances a little as Remy’s ego inflates. But again, these two aren’t leading character material. And none of the relationships between the other characters go anywhere. Particularly disappointing is how Remy’s dad Django (Brian Dennehy) and brother Emile (Peter Sohn) react to Remy’s venturing into the human world. There’s not enough effort to create true conflict. Like Swiss cheese, it’s filled with holes.
Yes, the movie would be a total failure if not for the food critic Anton Ego (Peter O’Toole), one of the greatest evil villains of all time. The ridiculousness of this plot device is so wonderful that it had me bursting out in laughter after first hearing that Gusteau died when a supremely negative review reduced his five-star restaurant to four. Many years later, we see Ego in the vast, dark, evil living room licking his chops at reviewing Gusteau’s restaurant after it has resurged.
Even in a different tone Ego proves his worth as a character, as later he eloquently states both the nature of criticism and the nature of art within the human spirit. In doing this, he becomes twice the meal “Ratatouille” does. I’m not above eating a good cheeseburger. But serve me a rat, and I might just become evil.
Grade: C-
Comments (8)
Why not re-write the story for them and send it to Disney? Maybe put a couple race cars in it to make it more exciting.
Sheesh.
Posted by Iris M. Gross | July 6, 2007 9:03 AMI agree with Iris. For shame, Captain Atwood!
Posted by Jeremy Wickman | July 6, 2007 10:16 AMIt's a freakin' CARTOON, dude! I'll bet your review of The Simpsons movie will be a real toe-tapper.
Posted by Snark | July 9, 2007 7:57 AMThe development of the Linguini character is supposed to be muted, it follows the idea that "anyone can cook", even a clueless, genetically lucky moron. ;-)
Posted by Brian | July 9, 2007 2:40 PMLighten up, there, Atwood. I loved it. It made me want to go cook something with wine in it.
Posted by Angela | July 10, 2007 1:40 PMC- ???
I suppose we should all be satisfied with The Fantastic Four, or at least re-joice in the fact that there is a Sex and the City movie on the way.
Undoubtedly, and coming from a chef (VT class of 1982), this movie will go down as a classic in the pantheon of food cinema...
Un-inspired plot... no sense of adventure? Did you see the same movie that around 120 million of us saw the last couple of weeks?
I'll be brief...
First, Your introductory musings on food, art and music and how they inform/inspire us are second-rate at best...
Second...don't even mention the quality of the animation or attention to details; did you happen notice the subtle burn scars on the arms of some of the chefs in the kitchen sequences?
I assume you have never worked in a professional kitchen let alone even delivered pizza.
Us professional chefs respected the amazing critical and passionate thought that underlies what our profession entails, from the obvious to the underbelly...
Ultimately, it's probably safe to say that we are living in the golden age of digital animation as in fifteen years this stuff will look like Orson Welles does to us now... I guess that means classic... A pretty good thing.
Third, don't confuse art (painters, chefs, musicians, sculptors, dancers, steelworkers, etc, you get my point... anyone who uses their hands or brains for creative expression...) with criticism... Critics exist because there are others willing to put their talents up for disssection on a day in day out basis as a result of their craft...
Your assertion that the movie would be a TOTAL failure but for Anton Ego is possibly the most goofy proclamation I can imagine...
Food critics are not villains, mostly informed pesks, rarely eloquent... Though that is your perception
Let's see... Evil cinematic villains
Anton Ego (one of the greatest of all times)...
Hannibal Lecter (At least he was a cook)...
And concerning Gusteau's unhappy demise, here's a little sobering real life story for you...
Have you ever heard of Bernard Loisseau, proprietor/chef of Le Cote D'Or outside of Lyon, France?
On February 24, 2003, Chef Loisseau took his own life via a shotgun blast to the head after hearing the news that he was to be downgraded in the Gault/Millaux Food Guide in France and that he was possibly going to lose one of his vaunted three Michellin stars (you can't get any more than that) that year...
Hardly a matter that allows for bursting out in laughter don't you think?
Bon Appetit
Posted by Adam | July 10, 2007 6:36 PMHoly shit, Adam. Don't do it...don't take your life because of Atwood. Please...I know how horrible he can be! He molested me in high school! In the boys bathroom! But I sruvived.
Be a survivor, Adam. Survive this verbal molestation...Be strong, brother.
Posted by Marcus Xavier | July 17, 2007 10:14 PMWay to go Adam!
The comments by Atwood prove that not all the pompous a**es work for NY Times and other 'big time' newspapers. {If you can, check out the NYT review of the Pixar movies "Cars" done by a pompous a** who certainly did not 'get it' and used the 'movie review' to go on an anti-automobile rant!}
Even a 'peasant' such as myself [high school class of 1967; someone do the math for Atwood] can understand the skill that it takes to make the food in an animated film look real, and delicious. Pixar had already exhibited their skill in understanding a passionate pursuit in "Cars" and have done so again in "Ratatouille."
It seems the VT education was a waste on Atwood.
Atwood, I grieve for your lack of soul.
Posted by Crabber1967 | July 29, 2007 10:10 PM