In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new.
So sayeth food critic Anton Ego, brilliantly voiced by acting great Peter O’Toole in Ratatouille
Ratatouille, however, is a success, although I wouldn’t put it quite at the level of The Incredibles
Ah, the food. The star of the movie is its amazing graphics, never better than when the subject is food. The coloring in the red onions, the shadows in the giant bowl of peas, the burnish on the copper pots – every bit of it looks so real as to distract you from the fact that the movie is animated. I’m just glad they didn’t show any desserts, because I would have salivated. The cityscapes of Paris and the detail in the hair of the one female character, Collette, were also astounding.
The plot was a little bit light, with some elements too predictable. You know from the start that Linguini will have to cook for Anton Ego. You know that Linguini and Remy will be separated towards the end, although I liked the way they turned that formula around and avoided the outcome I expected. You know that Remy’s family is going to turn up to help him at some point in the movie. But the setup was clever and the writing more mature than I can remember in any Pixar movie, including possibly the first Pixar sex joke (it’s very well done), a hilarious freak-out by the head chef Skinner, and some generally strong physical comedy.
The film also offers perhaps the best Proust allusion I’ve ever seen in a movie or read in a book, with the sequence that follows the first bite taken of the dish that gives the movie its title. Substitute a madeleine soaked in lime-scented tea and you’ll have the pivotal scene from In Search of Lost Time. I also thought the closing sequence was a nod to the opening sequence of Charade
Ratatouille struck one very sour note with me, though, and it nearly undermined the film. Nearly all of the voice-actors portraying French characters were not, in fact, French, but most did a passable job, particularly Brad Garrett as the late Chef Gusteau (even briefly rocking accents from Texas, Mexico, and Scotland … seriously, microwavable haggis???) and Sir Ian Holm as Skinner (which I assume is a reference to B.F. Skinner, the psychologist known for his experiments on rats). But Collette was voiced by Janine Garaofalo, and her attempt at a French accent was roughly as successful as your typical French military offensive. Was there some reason the Pixar folks didn’t go for at least a few native speakers? Audrey Tautou wasn’t available? Not only is she cute, but her voice is every bit as cute, and would have changed Collette’s role from “Linguini falls for her because she’s the only girl in sight” to “Linguini falls for her because she’s irresistibly cute.” Had Collette’s role been smaller, it wouldn’t have mattered, but she’s pivotal to the film and Garaofalo sounds like she’s making fun of a French accent, not trying to master one.
The DVD also comes with a five-minute short film titled Lifted that must not be missed.
Not that I know anything about French, but, knowing what little I do, Janine Garafalo’s accent could not have been within the same stratosphere of bad as Dustin Hoffman’s in ‘Perfume: the Story of a Murderer.’ I was offended by that accent, and I’m not even French! Also, I can’t say I recognized the sex joke, but I also can’t say I watched it as closely as I do the average movie.
I loved Ratatouille. The beautiful thing about Pixar films, I think, is how despite the predictability of the story, the whole arc is beautiful and fun. Even in The Incredibles, of course Buddy would grow into a bad guy, and of course Mr Incredible wasn’t cut out for the normal life and of course the kids will embrace their powers and grow into better people as they defeat Buddy. It’s not that we, the viewers, can’t see it coming, it’s just that the journey is worth taking every time.
They’re all very very good, but of all the Brad Bird films, I love The Iron Giant the best.
The Incredibles — some people I know really give that film a hard time due to its “moral ambiguity.” They have an argument but it’s still a good flick.
I suppose the “moral ambiguity” understandably gives folks pause, but it just makes the movie “real” for me, personally, which is why I liked “The Incredibles” as my second favorite Pixar flick (“Toy Story 2” holds top honors). Another example of unexpected “moral ambiguity” is in the first “X-Men” movie, where the most interesting part stems from the fact that the villain, Magneto, is exactly right and justified in what he is doing, even though his means may be questioned.
Oh, and Garafalo was a caricature, at best.
I think its a safe bet that no comedian will ever come to close to matching the brilliance of Peter Seller’s French accent. That said, I did love the movie and I also found her accent to be pretty poor.
The movie did a fantastic job of celebrating food, foodyism, and artistry of the Chef.
Speaking of artistry and foodyism, I just got a reservation for Babbo in March. I am beyond excited.
I thought Steve Martin did a fair job of mocking a French accent in his remake of the Sellers classic.
Oh, and you are right Keith – Audrey is cute. She’s the typical “Occitan Auvergnate”.
its been 2 weeks since: “I may have more to say on Cleveland in a day or two” and so far only indians fans have done work on the their drafts:
http://www.letsgotribe.com/story/2008/2/13/192249/976
Chip – wasn’t much more to say. Those analyses show how bad those drafts were, and if you go back to the year after Sabathia, they’re even worse. It’s no coincidence that they ignored 1999-2001, three drafts that produced Ryan Church, Luke Scott, Brian Tallet, and some cup of coffee guys. And of course, they had two extra picks in 2000, three extras in 2001 (one of the worst drafts by any team ever), four extras in 2002, and two extras in 2003. It’s quite a bad record, and it’s not getting any better if you look through 2006.
I found it mildly disappointing. The plot was light and predictable. I wasn’t a big fan of The Incredibles, either. Iron Giant is my favorite Brad Bird but the best animation of the 21st Century was The Triplets of Bellville which blows away Pixar and Disney.
My problem with Ratatouille was its failure to centralize and develop conflict. Remy’s character was being pulled in so many directions, I had a hard time deciding what to care about, and as a result, the resolution, to me, was not very cathartic. The art was fantastic though.
My problem with Ratatouille was its failure to centralize and develop conflict.
That’s a really solid criticism, IMO. The romance never really had time to develop, and the whole Skinner/will storyline was resolved too quickly.
I didn’t care for The Triplets of Belleville. It was weird, and not good weird.
Haven’t seen it yet, but I am a HUGE Patton Oswalt fan. Did his ironic sense of humor even make it into the film?
Keith, I’m not French, but I have to take exception to your knock on the French military, which is so exceedingly prevalent these days. Everyone piles on the French like they’re some collection of sissies who never want to fight, or as completely incompetent. I’d just like to remind people that after World War I, the French lost paid a higher price than any other country in terms of the young men they lost. Maybe that is the reason that they are so reticent to go to war. I forget the name, but one French military academy lost their ENTIRE class of 1917, I think it was. Plus, when they did fight, they weren’t half bad either. Does anyone remember how Napoleon marched his army to Moscow? The results weren’t great, but he got there! Anyway, just thought I’d add that little nugget of completely unrelated information.
On another note: PITCHERS AND CATCHERS REPORT!!
Do you guys have kids? I’m not sure how much more involved the plot should be, but this movie is one of my kid’s favorites (he’s 6). A more involved plot might have taken something away from him. As it stands, a perfect family movie.
Likely the best scene, the one where he and I can most appreciate, is when the critic takes his first taste, and he has the flashback.
In the DVD, there’s also a history of rats that my kid loves, especially the closing credits. I can’t tell you how many times he had that chapter in a loop.
The one I bought (from Canada) also had the french dub and subtitle. All well done.
It is obvious that the French (and European population as a whole) is aging, as is the population in most Western and developed countries. Has the United States made any plans to combat this? No. We just complain that social security is insolvent because we don’t have enough young people. And the reason that France has a problem with immigrants, the same reason that most European countries have immigrant problems, is that they invited most of these North Africans and Turks into their country as temporary workers, giving them a permanent underclass. The US immigration bill that failed had a provision similar to this. So yes, there are problems with Europe, as there are problems with every country.
Remind me again: what does this have to do with the will of their military to fight or not?
Anyway, I’m not French (or even European), so I don’t have a personal stake in the matter. I just have studied history and I get annoyed at the propensity of people to always denigrate the French military. Although, as a Simpsons fan, ‘cheese-eating surrender monkeys’ is one of the best lines of all time.
I was personally disappointed in the movie, if only because I do expect better plot development from Pixar at this point. It was decent, but nothing special, by any means. Keith is definitely right about using Janeane Garafalo, though; she was a horrible choice for this, and there’s plenty of American actors they could have picked who would have been better, without even getting into the French talent.
As for why the French military gets knocked so often, it has something to do with the utterly pathetic way in which they folded in World War II, and then were (mostly) content to sit around under the Vichy government for five years. The French have been great at attacking weaker, less technologically developed colonial nations in the past, but when pitted against an equal on the world stage, have crumbled with incredible rapidity.
Just watched the movie last night with my wife, and you are definitely right about the sex joke. “One can get too familiar with vegetbles, you know?” But one thing this movie had me wondering is if the writers had read Kitchen Confidential. They use a lot of the same ideas the Bourdain put forward in his book. It could also be that its just common among chefs to talk about themselves as pirates though.