Ratatouille

Just returned from a trip to Ratatouille with a 3, 6, 7 and 9 year old. It truly is as good as you have been hearing. A little long for the 3 year old but he still loved it as much as the other three, but it is likely that none of them loved it as much as me.

The attention to detail in the animation is phenomenal from the fine ridges on the sliced leeks to the tiny droplets of water on the rat''s fur to the texture of the sauces. This film takes food and chefs seriously unlike virtually all hollywood films. The dishes sound right and look right and the characterisation is realistic. The wines are a little on the extravagent side - Cheval Blanc 47, Latour 61 etc but in the spirit of the film - or rather the scene (and movie) stealing food critic Anton Ego voiced perfectly by Peter O'Toole. O'Toole is given some fantastic lines and on the true nature of the critic.... quote below from http://www.imdb.com/

"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 judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to 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."

uncomfortable but true words. (Nerd alert - For his meal in the restaurant O'Toole orders Ch. Cheval Blanc '47 but at the end there is a bottle of Ch. Lafite and a Ch. Latour on the table. Perhaps they were out of the Cheval blanc given that it is one of the world's most sought after wines (the cheapest on http://www.winesearcher.com/ is around 2000 euro per bottle), and offered him Lafite instead - I certainly wouldn't have complained but they say the '47 Lafite is tiring so I would have looked for the 1945 or the 1959.... I confess I rely on Michael Broadbent and others rather than my own experience!)

The film uses sounds and images to explain how combining flavours (say charantais melon and parma ham) can lead you from individual perfect notes to a symphony so kids will actually learn something while laughing uproariously.

Bottom line - this is up there with Babettes Feast and Eat Drink Man Woman and way better than Big Night, Tampopo, or star vehicles like Woman on Top and Simply Irresistiable (despite the charms of Penelope Cruz and Sarah Michelle Gellar)