In theaters

RATATOUILLE, written and directed by Brad Bird, 110 minutes, rated G.

What the magnificent new movie “Ratatouille” captures isn’t just the culinary heart of Paris – itself a feat – but also the hearts of audiences. It does so through one determined, lovable little rat named Remy (voice of Patton Oswalt), who may have been raised to eat trash, poor thing, but who nevertheless dreams big of becoming a master chef and full-on gourmand.

Still, how to do so when a rat in the kitchen isn’t exactly as welcome as, say, the beets in a borscht? For Remy, it helps if you have the support of a five-star chef like Auguste Gusteau (Brad Garrett), regardless of whether he’s dead, which he is, as well as a likable, no-talent lug like Linguini (Lou Romano) to stand in as your puppet, which he does – at least for a while.

From writer-director Brad Bird (“The Incredibles,” “The Iron Giant”), this latest collaboration between Disney and Pixar is among their best yet. It comes on the wheels of the studios’ weakest film, “Cars,” which was so focused on achieving the best in cutting-edge animation, it failed to remember what mattered – the story and the characters.

Not so for “Ratatouille,” which is as much a love letter to the City of Lights as it is a valentine to those who enjoy the pleasures of the table. As such, Paris is painstakingly rendered here, with the leaps forward in animation allowing Bird to showcase the city at its best – the architecture, the street life, the pace, and especially the food, which is beautifully detailed, right down to the work that goes into its preparation.

What’s essential to “Ratatouille” is that it understands that for some, good food isn’t just an artistic expression and creation – it’s passion itself. After all, if a mere noodle can bring together Disney’s Lady and Tramp, imagine what a perfectly prepared Provencal soup, with its halo of herbs, can do for a foodie who appreciates a subtle sleight of hand.

Remy is just that character. With his ghostly muse, Gusteau, guiding him to Gusteau’s once famous and now failing restaurant, the film’s complicated premise, in its most streamlined form, goes like this: Remy meets the much-maligned garbage boy Linguini, convinces him to let him sit under his toque, and then starts pulling Linguini’s hair in ways that control his arms and legs – and thus allows Remy to cook.

What’s in this for Linguini? Job security, for one, as well as a flirtation with the saucy Colette (Janeane Garofalo), fame when Remy’s cooking creates a sensation, and the ability to stick it to the evil Skinner (Ian Holm), who runs the restaurant as if he were steeped in bitters and who for too long has treated Linguini as if he were the stale Limburger in the room.

How long can Remy and Linguini keep up their deceit? And what are they to do when Peter O’Toole’s Anton Ego, a grim food critic, threatens to write a tell-all review? In this early contender for the Academy Award, the answers are in the movie, which is so enjoyable, readers deserve to discover the rest for themselves.

Grade: A

On DVD

SHOOTER, directed by Antoine Fuqua, written by Jonathan Lemkin, based on the novel, “Point of Impact,” by Stephen Hunter, 125 minutes, rated R.

Fresh from his scene-stealing, Academy Award-nominated performance in “The Departed,” Mark Wahlberg goes for the paycheck this time by playing Bob Lee Swagger, a former Marine who dumped military service after his close friend was killed in the harrowing (and ruinous) Ethiopian mission that begins the film. (Think Iraq.)

Three years later, Swagger is living deep in the Wyoming mountains and looking about three weeks removed from a shower (but only a minute removed from the gym) when he’s tracked down by Col. Isaac Johnson (Danny Glover), who wants Swagger to help foil a plot to kill the president of the United States.

Swagger agrees, but he quickly finds himself on the run when Johnson frames him for attempting to take the president’s life in Philadelphia. Trouble is, exactly why he was framed is so implausible, it’s akin to sitting on a day-old balloon-whatever air is left inside the movie gradually seeps out.

But not without a fight. To be fair to “Shooter,” it has its moments. The film’s action, awash in blood, is impressive, with Fuqua (“Training Day,” “King Arthur”) again proving he’s best suited as a stylist than as a director who can pull together a three-dimensional character. In Swagger, we get two dimensions – biceps and triceps. He registers onscreen not because he has depth, but because he seems a bottomless resource for survival, particularly his own.

Is there anything this man can’t do? Watching the movie, some will wonder, particularly after Swagger cauterizes his own wounds, builds his own bombs and systematically takes down those who did him wrong. Helping him are a young FBI agent (Michael Pena) and the wife (Kate Mara) of Swagger’s friend who was killed in Ethiopia, but you sense that if pressed, Swagger could manage without them.

After all, if there’s any word that best fits the American action hero archetype, it’s swagger, which is what this Swagger is all about.

Grade: C+

Visit www.weekinrewind.com, the archive of Bangor Daily News film critic Christopher Smith’s reviews, which appear Mondays and Fridays in Lifestyle, weekends in Television as well as on bangordailynews.com. He may be reached at Christopher@weekinrewind.com.

The Video-DVD Corner

Renting a video or a DVD? BDN film critic Christopher Smith can help. Below are his grades of recent releases in video stores. Those in bold print are new to video stores this week.

Akeelah and the Bee – B+

The Ant Bully – B+

Apocalypto – C

Arthur and the Invisibles – C

Babel – A-

Because I Said So – C

Bewitched: Complete Fifth Season – B+

The Black Dahlia – C-

Blood Diamond – C+

Bobby – C-

Borat – B+

Breach – B+

Breaking and Entering – C-

Bridge to Terabithia – B+

Cars – C

Casino Royale – A

Catch and Release – C

Charlotte’s Web – B+

Children of Men – A

Cult Camp Classic: Sci-Fi Thrillers – A-

The Dead Girl – A-

Dead Silence – F

Deja Vu – C+

The Departed – A

The Devil Wears Prada – B+

Dreamgirls – B

Employee of the Month – C

Eragon – C

Everyone’s Hero – C+

Fail Safe – A-

Fast Food Nation – B-

Feast – C+

Flags of Our Fathers – B+

Flushed Away – B+

Flyboys – C-

The Fountain – D

Ghost Rider – C-

The Good German – C

The Good Shepherd – B-

Half Nelson – A-

Half Past Dead 2 – D

Hannibal Rising – C

Happy Feet – A-

The History Boys – B+

A History of Violence – A

The Holiday – C+

Hollywoodland – C

The Illusionist – B+

Infamous – B+

Invincible – B

Jackass Number Two – B

Kinky Boots – B+

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang – B+

Last Holiday – B

The Last King of Scotland – B+

Letters from Iwo Jima – B+

Little Children – A-

Little Miss Sunshine – B+

The Marine – C+

Match Point – A

Miami Vice: Season Five – C-

Monster House – B+

Munich – A-

Music and Lyrics – B

My Super Ex-Girlfriend – A-

Night at the Museum – C+

Notes on a Scandal – B+

The Painted Veil – B+

Pan’s Labyrinth – A

The Patriot Blu-ray – B

Picket Fences: Season One – B+

The Prestige – B+

The Queen – A-

Rocky Balboa – B+

A Scanner Darkly – B+

The Sergio Leone Anthology – A

Sherrybaby – B+

Shooter – C+

Shut Up & Sing – A-

Smokin’ Aces – C-

Snakes on a Plane: A-

This Film is Not Yet Rated – B-

United 93 – A

Venus – B+

The Wicker Man – BOMB

MOVIES

EVENING – 112 minutes, rated PG-13. Railroad Square Cinema, Waterville.

A dying woman (Vanessa Redgrave) reflects on the time in her youth when she met the love of her life as her two daughters (Toni Collette and Claire Danes) wrestle with their mother’s impending death, and their own issues.

LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD – 130 minutes, rated PG-13. Bangor Mall 10; Flagship Cinemas, Thomaston; Spotlight Cinemas, Orono.

John McClane (Bruce Willis) takes on an Internet-based terrorist organization who is systematically shutting down the United States.

RATATOUILLE – 110 minutes, rated G. Bangor Mall 10; Colonial Theatre, Belfast; Flagship Cinemas, Thomaston; Maine Coast Cinemas, Ellsworth; Spotlight Cinemas, Orono.

A Parisian rat with a sophisticated palate makes his mark in an upscale restaurant that is ruled by an eccentric, world-famous chef.

PARIS, JE T’AIME – 120 minutes, rated R. Railroad Square Cinema, Waterville.

An anthology of short films from a wide range of directors expressing love for the City of Lights. In English and French, with English subtitles.

SICKO – 112 minutes, rated PG-13. Railroad Square Cinema, Waterville. (Scheduled to start Tuesday.)

An expos? on the inner workings of America’s health-care system. Directed by Michael Moore.