In Ratatouille, the newest joint effort by Disney and Pixar, the late, legendary chef Gusteau (Brad Garrett) was famous for his assertion that “anyone can cook.” Following Gusteau’s recipes and adding a bit of flair, that ideal is proven by an unlikely pair. More notable, though, is how the statement can also apply to the way that Ratatouille and its Disney-Pixar kin are produced: anyone can make a movie, but with the right ingredients added into the mix, Pixar continues to do it better than anyone else. That becomes even more obvious considering the fact that the film is orchestrated by Brad Bird, perhaps the genre’s most innovative director.

The pair who give new life to Gusteau’s tired recipes are Remy (Patton Oswalt), a rat with advanced olfactory sense and fantasies of becoming a Parisian chef, and Linguini (Lou Romano), a bumbling kitchen boy with no discernable cooking skills but needing to make an impression to keep his job. The two strike a deal in a stunningly animated, wonderfully emotional scene by the Seine: Linguini will play marionette to Remy, and together they will simultaneously avoid and impress the head chef at Gusteau’s restaurant (Ian Holm) and put it back on the map. Linguini’s meteoric rise to become Paris’ most talked-about chef also draws the attention of the kitchen’s lone female cook (Janeane Garofalo) and the city’s most dour food critic (Peter O’Toole). It’s up to Remy and Linguini to keep up appearances.

With Bird, who produced Pixar’s best film in The Incredibles, at the helm, Ratatouille is all at once a feast for the eyes, a humorous bit of entertainment, and a touching story about fighting for a sense of self. Bird’s Parris is breathtaking, from the grand nighttime views of the Eiffel Tower to the quirky, colorful bikes and cars that fill the streets. The kitchen at Gusteau’s, meanwhile, is a study in photorealism. At this point it feels repetitive to remark on Pixar’s animation chops, but they continue to amaze.

Bird’s sense of humor also comes through in the screenplay, thanks in large part to Remy’s rat family (Brian Dennehy as his father and Peter Sohn as his brother), who don’t care to differentiate between trash and truffles. This dynamic also brings out the film’s bigger message in Remy’s struggle to be recognized not just as a rat who cooks or as a puppet master to a gangly kid, but as a chef.

The voice talent in Ratatouille is among the best that Pixar has assembled. Oswalt is sweet and emotive, Romano is pleasingly goofy, Garofalo is barely recognizable, and O’Toole is so far on top of his game that his character deserves more screen time.

The film isn’t as overtly exciting and fresh as The Incredibles or as laugh out loud funny as Toy Story, and the greater reach of the plot can at times slow the film down, especially in the second hour, when the biggest action bits end quickly and return to the more subtle moments without much transition. But subtlety is also Bird’s specialty—surely, there isn’t a director in his section of showbiz who respects the viewers more—and Ratatouille quickly covers up the rough spots with just the right spices, coming out on the other side as a dish you won’t soon regret.

Rating: * * * * of 5

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