Rata-tastic

Ratatouille is one of the best movies I've seen this year. In short, it's about a gastronomy-loving rat who gets lost, ends up in a Parisian bistro, and uses a kitchen boy as a vehicle to become a great chef. But before I tell you why it was great, here's what was wrong with it:

- The characters' accents don't make any sense: The main character, Remy the Rat, and his companion, Linguini Alfredo, speak English with an American accent, while all the other characters speak English with French accents (and one character speaks English with an English accent, but appears to be native French). Presumably French accents indicate that they're really speaking French, but what do the American accents mean? The rat (and his human friend) are presumably from France, but we (the audience) are not really given any reference points.

- Moreover, Remy can read and understand spoken --English? French?-- but not speak, so he can't communicate with Linguini. Apparently the animators want us to suspend our disbelief about a rat being able to cook and read, but not speak.

- The main plot device is Remy's ability to control the actions of his human friend, Linguini, by pulling on his hair. His hair-pulling has the effect of moving Linguini like a marionette, a la Being John Malkovich. This superpower is not approximate-- it is complete and comprehensive. Not only can Remy control Linguini when he's awake, but he can toss Linguini's body around like a rag doll when Linguini's asleep. This supernatural ability (or neurological impairment) is never explained or even discussed by the characters as being a strange occurrence, except for the musical montage of Remy and Linguini honing this ability through practice.

Though I would normally hold these flaws against any other movie, none of this matters at all. Why?

First, Brad Bird creates one fully developed, likable, character in Remy. We have all sorts of great themes in this one, tiny package: a driving passion; being caught between two worlds; dealing with rejection and betrayal; despair; and persevering with creativity. Furthermore, Bird gives us full access into Remy's psyche by letting us hear his inner voice in the form of an apparition of a famous, deceased chef who has inspired him to follow his passion for food. In addition, Pixar's animators do an incredible job of giving Remy extremely expressive facial features, and by colorfully showing us how he senses the combination of flavors with firework-like flashes of light.

Second, "Ratatouille" is not predictable. Without giving away any spoilers, a major part of the story ends up being about the unlikely redemption of a seemingly peripheral character. I don't want to say too much more than this, because the emotional power of the finale owes a lot (in my opinion) to this character's development. It was great because it delivered where most movies fail: it's twist was unexpected, and it made sense.

And it provided a whole new theme that the movie, despite its silly flaws, exemplifies: the power of simplicity. . . and perspective.