CS Weekly Archive > Weekend Read > 06/29/07

Too Many Cooks

By danny munso

Pixar's latest, about a rat with aspirations of being a chef, turns out good, but not great, with a curiously uneven script that seems to take both a step forward and backward at the same time.

Ratatouille

Screenplay by Brad Bird (also directed)
Story by Bird, Jim Capobianco, and Jan Pinkava

Remy (voiced by Patton Oswalt) lives in the French countryside and loves to cook and eat fine food. Remy also happens to be a rat, and his elevated tastes don't go over well in his family where eating garbage is the norm. During a kitchen-related mishap that he causes, Remy becomes separated from his family and washed down a sewer, only to end up in Paris, the culinary capital of the world. There he happens upon Gasteau's, a once-famous restaurant that has fallen on hard times. After a somewhat-happy accident, he is befriended by the new garbage boy, Linguini (v. Lou Romano), who has some chef aspirations himself. Linguini needs a job and is desperate enough to let a rat do his cooking, so he concedes to team up. Now the pair must try and work together to become the greatest chef in Paris…without getting caught.

Ratatouille has an interesting history, first beginning as an idea from animator Jan Pinkava, who helmed the Pixar's award-winning short Geri's Game (you know, the one where the old man plays chess with himself). Pinkava, Ratatouille's original writer-director, apparently couldn't handle the load and was removed from the project. Enter Brad Bird, he of The Incredibles and The Iron Giant, who rewrote the script and took over the director's chair. Bird is arguably the greatest animation director working today, but Ratatouille has the feel of a patchwork screenplay that, perhaps due to their tight schedule, didn't get the attention it deserved.

One of the more interesting aspects of the film is that it's Pixar's first project that is aimed at adults. Bird, whose personal mantra is "animation is a medium, not a genre," has often spoke of not limiting animation exclusively for kids, and that is certainly the case with Ratatouille. It's hard to imagine children understanding the nuances of the spices Remy toys with or the complexities of a DNA test that figures prominently into the plot, and in that respect, the film works. Some of the film's stronger moments are things that may fly over children's heads. Bird is correct in his thinking that adults love animation as much as kids and was clearly aiming for a grown-up story that people can enjoy on a Friday, followed by a trip to their restaurant of choice for good food afterwards.

Ultimately, that fine balance is where the film falters. Ratatouille is trying to please both audiences, when its story really isn't suited to doing so. There are approximately five chase sequences in the film, only two of which seem necessary. The others feel deliberately placed to entertain the kids so they don't fuss in their seats during one of Remy's foodie monologues. On more than one occasion, I found myself enjoying a quiet moment between characters, only to have it interrupted by a loud set piece that the story could have done without.

Remy is also accompanied for much of the film by the specter of Gasteau himself, (v. Brad Garrett), who serves as the rat's ectoplasmic Jiminy Cricket. Other than some cheap laughs (and cool animation), I'm not quite sure what that character provided. Hey, it's a cartoon! The kids need something!

Thankfully, many of the film's messes are cleaned up by the third act, clearing the way for a great ending centered around a showdown between Remy's cooking and the intimidating food critic Anton Ego (v. Peter O'Toole). It's this conflict and confrontation that makes the film, and this dessert of an ending more than makes up for the unpleasant flavors earlier in the movie. Still, it's hard to not think of Ratatouille as a tiny step backwards for Pixar, which is particularly ironic since the film also features some of the most groundbreaking animation since Fantasia. Maybe it was the rush, but we've seen Bird do better, and while someone's past resume shouldn't negatively impact their new film, that is certainly the case here.

Though certainly not Pixar's (or Brad Bird's) finest, Ratatouille has enough magic to guide it through its rough patches. If only the script had exclusively catered to adults instead of trying to please the tykes, then maybe Bird would have had something really special on his hands. Maybe next time.

Ratatouille
Walt Disney Pictures
Rated G; 110 min.

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Danny Munso graduated from film school in 2004 and can currently be found on his computer working on one of his many half-written screenplays. Or, more likely, he's on the Internet checking the scores of his beloved Bay Area sports teams.

Ratatouille courtesy Walt Disney Pictures

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