KEY POINTS:
Herald rating: * * * *
If animated film company extraordinaire Pixar (Cars, Finding Nemo) is trying to break down the barrier between the genres of traditional live action feature film and computer-generated animations, then they're on the right track with Ratatouille, a cute culinary number.
Where other animations such as Shrek 3 have relied on pop culture gags or cute animal jokes to make up for a flimsy story, director Brad Bird (The Incredibles) has created a film with the whole package: beautiful animation and sets, interesting characters, a considered script and a well-rounded story, even if the premise does sound a bit gross.
Remy (Oswalt) is a rat with highly developed taste buds and sense of smell. Unlike his good-natured brother or uncouth father (who make him use his extraordinary senses to detect rat poison in the food they scavenge), Remy's passionate about food, and dreams of one day leaving his home in the French countryside to become an haute cuisine chef in Paris.
When Remy's overly ambitious hunt for ingredients inside a local kitchen goes horribly wrong, he finds himself in the sewers of Paris and separated from his family. While lost, Remy sneaks into the kitchen of his culinary hero, the late Auguste Gusteau, where he strikes up a friendship with a young, clumsy, talentless kitchen hand called Linguini (Romano).
The idea of a rat working in a restaurant kitchen might sound a little disgusting but there is very little that is unsavoury about this film. Remy is cute, with amazingly detailed fur that will have you spellbound just watching it move. But he's more than just a cute furball: he's ambitious, clever and generous.
The Paris skyline and beautiful food also serve to distract from the fact Remy is a rat in the place we'd least like to find him. There's also a touch of romance, a few funny moments, and the obligatory messages about friendship, striving for dreams and accepting people.
Ratatouille isn't the funniest film and a second act that drags struggled to keep the kids (aged 4 and 9) I took to it totally engaged. But you could do a lot worse for whole-family entertainment.
Cast: Patton Oswalt, Lou Romano, Janeane Garofalo, Ian Holm, Brian Dennehy
Directors: Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava
Running Time:, 111 mins
Rating: PG, medium-level violence
Screening: SkyCity, Berkeley and Hoyts
Verdict: An animated family feature that focuses on story rather than easy laughs
