FROM GARBAGE TO GOURMET with Stella

From Garbage to Gourmet: RATATOUILLE

One helter-skelter paced little movie and my attitude toward rats is forever changed–as long as they’re blue with pink noses and great big eyes.

ANYONE CAN COOK blazes across the cover of Chef Gustave’s cookbook and a rat like Remy, a rat with daring, intelligence and big dreams is ready to believe the title. He is a gustatorial wizard with the nose of a sommelier extraordinaire:) At last, with the help of M. Gustave’s book, he will create great dishes and cast aside garbage forever.



Trumpets here!



After getting his claws on a copy of ANYONE CAN COOK, Remy of the adorable pink nose, leaves his dumpster-diving family behind in the underworld and sets forth, or rather, up, from the evil sewers to the city above. Only then does he discover he has lived beneath Paris, home of the world’s finest chefs.

Enter Linguini, down-and-out carrot-top on the hunt for work at Gustave’s. While Remy watches dreamily over the gourmet kitchens of the restaurant, Linguini mistakenly makes a mess of the soup, and Remy rushes to correct the error. Result? Voila! The best soup ever and Linguini is in the spotlight.

Too bad Linguini can’t cook.

But Remy can and he is persuaded to work with the wayward redhead in a cunning plan to keep him producing dishes par excellence.

An ambitious but evil usurper in the world of culinary ambition sets out to take Linguini down. Imagine the terrible danger to Remy. Ego, the food critic who makes and breaks restaurants lopes upon the scene, cadaverous body and baggy black eyes curled and ready to pounce. Remy’s family shows up and stirs the dangerous dish in the making (sorry).

Mon Dieu, such claw-biting drama.

But, the film has its messages:

Your only limit is your soul.
Focus on what you left behind and you will never be able to look ahead.
Change is nature.

And!

Not everyone can become a great artist
But a great artist can come from anywhere.
Passion rises above all obstacles . . .

The journey, the failures, the triumphs and a beautifully animated production shows off each theme to greatest advantage.

On a not-so inspiring evening I visited RATATOUILLE and came away wearing a great big smile.

Have you seen this piece?
If you have, what did you think?
How do you feel about animated movies?
What recent, or not so recent, movies do you recommend?

Happy New Year!
Stella