Gerald Wright's Movie Coverage      

RATATOUILLE

Directed by: Brad Bird
Running time: 1 hour 50 minutes
Release date: June 29, 2007
Genre: Animation
Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures
MPAA Rating: G

This new Pixar film is clearly the best work ever by Brad Bird (The Incredibles). It all begins with a French rat named Remy (voice of Patton Oswalt) who has the uncanny ability to smell and imagine ingredients of foods which inspires him to become a great chef. His father and brother have a problem with his decision because obviously rats are a phobia of people.

His inspiration is a well known chef named Auguste Gusteau (Brad Garrett) whose slogan was "Anyone Can Cook", but Gusteau was driven to his grave by the food critic the Grim Eater aka Anton Ego (voice of Peter O'Toole). When fate places Remy under a restaurant of the late Gusteau in the festive city of Paris, he forms a unlikely partnership with Linguini (Lou Romano) the garbage boy and illegimate son of Gusteau. Linguini inadvertenly discovers Remy's talents and their partnership sets the culinery world of Paris on fire. Remy instructs Linquini by hiding under his chef cap and cueing him on what ingredients to put in the dishes. Linguini's love interest is another cook named Colette (Janeane Garofalo) and they together turn the once second rate restaurant into the talk of the town.

Remy now finds himself torn between following his dreams or returning to his previous life as a scavenger rat. What makes this story so great is the characters who are fun-lovingly believable and enchantingly sentimental. The triumph conclusion of the movie and the amazing CGI will have a lasting impression on all who are watching.

A+