The first animated movie to make my mouth water, this Pixar outing starts with an irresistible high concept (a Parisian rat who loves to cook) and blossoms into something much richer: an ode to creativity, an ode to pushing boundaries – an ode, really, to the things Pixar does best. As the voice of Remy, the rat, Patton Oswalt babbles away with the mania of a true obsessive – he’s like Julia Child after too much wine. Writer-director Brad Bird has given the movie such an attention to detail that it’s really for foodies first, then kids. By the time a light steam drifted off a plate of ratatouille in the climax, my stomach was growling in a way no popcorn could appease. (The reaction of a food critic to his first bite is a lovely epiphany.) This is yet another Pixar triumph, culinary and otherwise.
