Ratatouille!

When the summer began I had the idea that I would be spending a lot of time in the movie theater. That hasn't been the case. I am not sorry that I missed Spiderman 3 or the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie. I chose a different summer blockbuster: Ratatouille.

I loved the film. How could I not? Paris, food, cute animated rats....golden. We went on opening night and the crowd was good. A few fools didn't turn off their cellphones, but they promptly shut them off. The kids were well behaved. The few outbursts were related to the film ("Hey, they're teasing the rat!") or general toddler discomfort. The movie seemed to keep everyone's attention.

This was the perfect Pixar movie for me. It is gorgeous to look at. They have not included musical numbers ( though thanks to DVD technology I can skip the nasty Randy Newman songs in the Toy Story movies). The main character is a mammal. I like the tone of the film too. It has action sequences and slapstick humor, but overall I think it is ultimately sweet.

Most refreshing of all is that there is no hint of the "cool, dude!" character. I don't know how to describe it, but somewhere along the line there was a shift toward making kid's entertainment "Xtreme!" "Radical!" "Cool!" and so on. So, we are subjected to the extreme sports grannies, surfspeak penguins, baby fashionistas, etc. Apparently, this irritates my inner old codger.

Remy and company are blissfully free of artificial awesome.

This is one of those times that I wish I was a mom...or could at least borrow an enthusiastic and willing child for an afternoon or two. One of the tie-ins to the movie is a charming cookbook for kids. I am enchanted by the idea of cooking simple French dishes with a child. Or maybe I am enchanted by the idea of a child who is interested in more than chicken nuggets and ranch dressing. That is the advantage of imagination. If I did really have a child he or she would probably be more interested in dropping egg bombs on the floor or in figuring out how the computer animation works than in playing in the kitchen. Come to think of it, when I was a kid I wasn't all that excited by the kitchen either.

Then again, I didn't have a cute little chef to inspire me.