Feast your eyes

With apologies to Pixar:

“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 judgement. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and 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 the discovery and defense of the new. Last week, I experienced something new, and extraordinary film from a singularly expected source. To say that both the film and its makers have challenged my perceptions is a gross understatement. They have rocked me to my core.”

The above quote is lifted, (and slightly paraphrased) from the film “Ratatoille,” penned by the film's chief villain, food critic Anton Ego (voiced by Peter O'Toole, having a blast). And leave it to the maestros at Pixar to put it far more eloquently than this humble reviewer ever could.
Seriously, I am running out of superlatives for these guys.

Each successive film stuns and delights and makes minor improvements over the pervious. This is not to say that this is a better film than “The Incredibles,” but there are refinements made that make aspects of this film richer than before. Even Pixar's sole misstep, “Cars,” was light-years beyond any other animated film released that year.

So thoroughly are the films realized, that each elements that makes the whole is a master class – design, character development, story, even cinematography, if that is possible for an animated film.

While “Shrek” continues to hang its hat on the same tired gags and pop-culture references, and other animation studios rush to cash in on the latest market craze (fractured fairy tales, talking penguins), Pixar forges ahead in the market, constantly tweaking their product to enhance each and every aspect.

And the leader of these animated expeditions is director Brad Bird. Cutting his teeth on “The Simpsons,” and creating one of two-dimensional animation's last great achievements, “The Iron Giant,” Bird pushed Pixar to navigate uncharted waters with the studio's animation apex “The Incredibles.”

In “Ratatoille,” he's created another classic for their canon.

Pemy (voiced by comedian Patton Oswald) is a rat with a highly refined sense of culinary creations. Not satisfied with dining on the discarded refuse of his human hosts, Remy seeks out singular foods and flavors fussed over only rabid fans of “Emeril Live.”
His discriminating dining is a mystery to his brother Emile (animator Peter Sohn) and father Django (Brian Dennehy), who have no qualms with blue fuzz on their cheese and warn Remy of rodents who mix too closely with the human world.

Guided by his quest for superior sustenance, as well as a ghost of once-esteemed French chef Gusteau (voiced by Brad Garrett), Remy winds up in the City of Lights and befriends a hapless kitchen helper named Linguini (voiced by Lou Ramano).

Their inter-species camaraderie blossoms in Gusteau's formerly famous restaurant that has since suffered the perils of over-marketing thanks to its angry little sawed-off chef (voiced by Ian Holm), who pimps out the Gusteau name to everything from BBQ ribs to tacos.
Meanwhile, Linguini rises through the ranks, from garbage boy to chef, with the help of Remy quite literally pulling some strings for him. You see, Remy gets housed under his toque and manipulates his limbs by pulling tufts of Linguini's hair.

How this stumblebum of an young man can create such masterful meals astounds his boss and his co-workers (and the slapstick antics are right out of a Jerry Lewis textbook... the film is set in France, you know), including the aggressive Collette (wonderfully voiced by Janeane Garfalo).
In fact, this film is filled with many voices from noticeable actors that fly under the radar until the end credits. Where many animated films get lost in fawning over merely having a celebrity lend his or her name to a project (Justin Timberlake? Cameron Diaz? Ashton Kutcher?), Bird required his actors to get lost in their roles, treating them as though it were no different than a live-action film.

That is only part of “Ratatoille's” appeal.

Comedy, drama and action are all handled lovingly and expertly, even if the film's core message – to set aside differences and appreciate one's qualities on an indivdual basis – is time-worn.
Visually sumptuous, dramatically rich and simmering with warmth and compassion for all its characters, “Ratatoille” is yet another fine dish prepared up from an animation studio that always seems to serve its product with only the finest ingredients.