Like the titular dish (and a clever wordplay), Ratatouille is simple, subtle, yet a wonderful experience to be enjoyed by everyone, young and old.
Remy (Patton Oswalt) is an ordinary rat with an extraordinary sense of smell and taste. Remy's idol is world-renowned chef Gusteau (Brad Garrett), whose motto is that "anyone can cook." Remy dreams of becoming a chef, too, but his family thinks he's nuts, until his sense of smell saves the whole clan — that is, Remy is assigned the task to sniff out poisonous food.
A disaster on the home front forces the clan to move, and in the process Remy gets separated from his family and ends up, through the sewers, in Paris; and finally at Gusteau's kitchen. When a garbage boy, Linguini (Lou Romano), messes up the soup, Remy comes to the rescue. The trouble is, the soup is a sensation and the head chef, Skinner (Ian Holm), thinks that Linguini is a fake and demands that he re-create the soup. Having no choice, Linguini teams up with Remy in a Cyrano de Bergerac way: Remy will cook by hiding in Linguini's toque and controlling Linguini's hands and body. Working together with Colette (Janeane Garofalo), Linguini develops strong feelings for her.
Remy's cooking is creating a stir and reviving Gusteau's reputation as one of Paris's best restaurants, and rousing the curiosity of food critic Anton Ego (Peter O'Toole), who was responsible for taking two stars away from the once five-star Gusteau's. Meanwhile, Skinner suspects something is behind Linguini's success and he's determined to smoke out the rat, so to speak.
The voice talents in Ratatouille are phenomenal in that they all fit the characters perfectly, delivering lively and affecting performances. As Remy, comedian Patton Oswalt (The King of Queens) is delightful, reminding us of Nathan Lane but also creating his own brand of friendliness in his voice. As the klutzy Linguini, Lou Romano (The Incredibles, also Pixar's artist) is perfectly goofy and sincere. Remy and Linguini don't really talk with each other (while Remy can understand the humans, his speach comes off as squeaks in Linguini's ears), but their individual voices still create a wonderful overall dynamic.
Article comments
1 - bliffle
Sounds dreadful. What a sad misuse of the name of an excellent dish, for no good reason.
2 - Ray Ellis
It's a pun, bliffle--nothing more.
3 - Lisa McKay
Congratulations! This article has been selected for syndication to Advance.net, which is affiliated with newspapers around the United States, and Boston.com, which will allow even more readers to enjoy it.
4 - Jennie James
very sopishticated and sassy... a movie that will satify those of all ages
5 - taylor
i think the movie was a great and funny movie
6 - pinklove
it was very interesting ... with a twist of fiction and humor
7 - anony-mouse.. get it?
Oh my, this movie tickled the essence of my humour, it had me doubled over in laughter as i pondered just how this common house pest can have such a disastrously comedic influence on a talent lacking chef. How amazingly it captured my imagination as it engrossed me in this fantastical world of fictional genius.
8 - ehhh
not really good actually it sucked
9 - ehhh
K I D D I N G very very goood
10 - Orange98
This movie is extremely gd!i love remy!
11 - Orange98
pls do not insult this movie!this movie is one of the best i have ever seen and i was really expecting it to get an Oscar!i am so damn happy it got an Oscar !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!