Every millimeter of every raised eyebrow is an Oscar-worthy performance, acting through pixels.Ī chase through the restaurant kitchen and an escape through the sewer system are filled with a level of mastery of three-dimensional space and detail that will be even more entertaining on DVD, when you can hit the pause button.
RAT IN RATATOUILLE MOVIE MOVIE
Nothing could be more expressive than the thousand different shrugs of a Frenchman, and this movie has them all. The movements and gestures are exquisitely orchestrated. But in this film, the line between humans and computer animation all but dissolves. Those films were about plastic toys, insects, and monsters. Pixar’s early films compensated for the limited technology for facial expressions and gestures by making the characters have, well, limited facial expressions and gestures. The animation is, even by Pixar standards, spectacularly dazzling. Then there is Colette (voice of Janeane Garofalo), the only woman chef in the kitchen, scary as a supervisor and even more terrifying when Linguini thinks he might kind of…like her. But challenges remain - Skinner (voice of Ian Holm), who wants Gusteau’s for himself so he can promote his horrible frozen foods, and Anton Ego (voice of Peter O’Toole), the critic whose devastating reviews can ruin even the most popular restaurant. Remy, tugging on Linguini’s hair like something between a puppeteer and a video game console, turns Linguini into the most celebrated chef in Paris. Remy gets his chance when he joins forces with hapless klutz Linguni (voice of Lou Romano), recently hired to clean up in Gusteau’s restaurant only because his late mother knew Gusteau. His idol is the late Auguste Gusteau (voice of Brad Garrett), a great Parisian chef and restauranteur and the author of a cookbook with the inspirational title: “Anyone Can Cook.” While his friends and family like to eat garbage (literally), he has a refined palate and a gift for food preparation. Remy (voice of comedian Patton Oswalt) is a French rat with a dream. The film never really overcomes the ew-factor that it is about a rat in a kitchen. While it’s a classic underdog-with-an-impossible-dream story, it does not have easy characters or emotions for children to identify with or a bad guy it will be fun for them to root against.ĭid I say underdog? It’s more like an under-rat. But it does not have a clear sense of who its audience is, and families with children who are looking for the next Finding Nemo may find themselves puzzled. Pixar’s latest release is brilliantly animated, and a lot of fun.