Rats!

My wife pointed out that in my last review I disclosed too much detail about the film itself, and perhaps ruined it a bit for anyone who has not yet seen it. I will attempt to be more brief and general in this and subsequent reviews.

Pixar's Ratatouille is quite an imaginative tale. The story centers around a young rat who discovers his knack for cooking. Our rat hero (named Remy) winds up in the kitchen of a famous Paris restaurant. While there, Remy must team up with the inept garbage boy and evade detection at the same time.

The movie is filled with some great physical comedy that only really works in an animated film (don't get me started about using CGI to create cartoon physics in live-action movies). The story also has some touching moments along with enough wit to give the plot some spark. The ending is a bit of a twist, but happy all the same (sorry if that spoils it for you, now that you know a Pixar movie has a happy ending). Remy's struggle to gain acceptance is archetypical for anyone who has felt themselves to be an outcast or an outsider (or who has been on the other side of that equation). On the whole, it's a fun, cute movie, with a bit of an artsy edge. It's well worth seeing, and I give it four antelopes.