The Tale of Despereaux (1 hour, 27 minutes; rated G): I feel like I’m hitting the replay button at the movies.

Yesterday, I saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which was strikingly familiar to Forrest Gump. Today, it was The Tale of Despereaux, which seemed like a Ratatouille rip-off – err – spin-off.

I was expecting more from ol’ Despereaux and his cute big ears. But my thoughts wandered, and I found myself distracted by the similarities to Ratatouille -- the chef, the rats, the pot of soup, the French accents.

When my 10-year-old son and I arrived home, my husband wanted to know the storyline in The Tale of Despereaux. I had trouble coming up with an answer – not because it was complicated, but it just didn’t hold my interest. The pacing was awkward and uneven.

I have to give props for the animation. It was incredible…almost distracting at times. I’d find myself counting a character’s individual eyelashes instead of paying attention to what they were saying.

Another plus: No singing! (The king does play some depressing but catchy tunes on a guitar.) And I must admit the action scenes were pretty entertaining – especially ones involving an angry, fat, orange cat. The other parts, though, were long in the tooth, no pun intended. The movie was only about 90 minutes, but it felt more like three hours. Curiously, Benjamin Button was about three hours long, but it felt more like 90 minutes.

Best time for a bathroom break: Anytime there’s not an action scene. I was actually wishing our bag of popcorn was empty, so I’d have an excuse to step out and get a refill. Then I started thinking about another movie where I had the same thought. But what movie was it? I was distracted yet again trying to remember.

Date movie? I enjoyed my young date, my 10-year-old son. Some scenes might be too scary for toddlers. I heard only one kid cry during the movie, but that could have been from boredom. I was about to cry myself at times.