Ratatouille (DVD)

A sticker on the Ratatouille DVD boldly claims it is the "best reviewed film of the year". I find the inclusion of this statement to be quite perplexing, because, for a film like Ratatouille, boasting about reviews is downright hypocritical. This discrepancy is just one of the many contradictions in a flawed, but still enjoyable film.

Written and directed by Brad Bird, the man behind the still-fantastic The Incredibles (Pixar’s best to date), means Ratatouille has a lot to live up to. While it may not fulfill the potential promised by The Incredibles, it is still a rather amusing film, focusing on the exploits of Remy (voiced by the incomparable Patton Oswalt), a cute little rat that wants to make it as a Parisian chef.

The story follows Remy through his adventures, inroducing us to the cast of the "bizarre" secondary characters that have become standard-issue for most Pixar movies. These characters (all humans) include Linguine, who functions as the best friend; Colette, the chef that Linguine pines for; and Anton Ego, the menacing food critic that comes across as one of the most terrifying villains ever to be found in a Pixar film. You will probably not be surprised to hear that the animation is simply stunning, and there are several instances in which the animated rats look scarily real (although the humans are still just plain creepy). This is without a doubt the best looking film that Pixar has ever produced. Ratatouille also happens to be a quite funny film, exhibiting a frequently witty sense of humor containing several jokes that are more than likely to float over the heads of children comprising the target audience, yet giving the parents something to laugh at. The majority of the laughs, however, come at the expense of French stereotypes, providing fun for the whole family.

However clever its humor may be, Ratatouille is a movie that falters when it attempts to provide more than just smart laughs. The majority of the problems stem from Anton Ego, the bitter, old critic (a senior version of me?). There are no particularly glaring problems with the character himself, but rather, the message that he is used to convey. Voiced by Sir Peter O’Toole, Ego is perhaps the most unpleasant, clichéd critic ever depicted on film. He dresses in all black, relishes writing bad reviews, and works out of an office shaped like a coffin. This setup does provide a great deal of comedic potential, some of which is delivered upon, but, for the most part, Ego is used to provide cloying lessons that do nothing other than drag the movie down.

Ratatouille is a film that becomes absurdly preachy in its final act, its overall lesson being that it is wrong to criticize art, as it is impossible to objectively judge such a subjective medium. There’s nothing wrong with making these assertions, but more than anything, they feel like little bits that Brad Bird snuck into the script in order to "critic-proof" his movie. This defense mechanism is largely unnecessary, and it hurts the movie much more than it helps it. As I said before, this is but one glaring contradiction the serves to make the movie appear hypocritical, keeping it from living up to its possible greatness.

In terms of special features, Ratatouille is a DVD that is quite lacking. A featurette comparing gourmet food to the creative process, featuring "critically acclaimed" chef Thomas Keller, will bore you to tears. The deleted scenes were rightly excised. "Lifted", the short that ran with the movie in theater, is not very fun, but "Your Friend the Rat", the new short is a very different story. "Your Friend…" is one of the funniest things on the DVD, and it teaches you, among other things, that rats adore François Truffaut. Watch this short, and skip the rest of the features.

Ratatouille is a very fun, albeit flawed, film. While it does not surpass the high standards set by Bird with The Incredibles, it is still worth your time. Ratatouille is a movie that can make for a good rental, and should be a no-brainer if you have kids or younger relatives.