| | |  Entertainment | February 2009 
Beverly Hills Chihuahua
 James Plath - DVDTown
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Two things blind critics as much as snow blowing full-gale across the highway: good buzz and hype, or worse, low expectations. All I had to see was the title of this film and a trailer to find myself thinking, How many movies with talking animals have there been that have actually wowed anybody? "Babe," right?
After that you're going to have to jog my memory, because the list of turkeys and dogs goes on forever. I'd cite a few, but they're forgettable, of course, and "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" is the latest entry in a curious genre that I assume is aimed at small children and pet owners. Considering that this one is directed by Raja Gosnell ("Big Momma's House," "Scooby-Doo"), I was ready to paw the back door to be let outside.
But as I watched with my seven year old (who gives it four stars out of four, by the way), I thought, this Disney doggie-talkie isn't half-bad. Then again, it probably is half bad because it's only literally half-good. The plot's a suitcase full of old clothes, and there aren't enough clever lines inserted that might keep non pet-owning adults from enjoying this other than as a parent gratified to see their little one having fun. Sometimes the special effects are the equivalent of a dog on a bungee cord that's airbrushed out (again, literally). But like the Buddies movies that feature a pack of tiny talking golden retrievers, "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" also has a few positives going for it.
For one thing, there's thankfully not a lot of the scatological "smell my butt?" nonsense that's become a staple for talking animal pictures. Flatulence? Fat chance. Parents will be pleased to know that the sophomoric stuff is missing, mostly. As for innuendo, there are only a few instances, and they're so embedded in fast-paced dialogue that even adults might not pick up on them. And it's hard to find fault with the object lessons on adopting stray animals and having respect for people of other classes.
You also have to hand it to the animal trainers and give Gosnell credit for capturing what they've done on-camera, because these animal actors are better than many of the humans I've seen over the past year. I can picture dog owners out there watching and thinking how they can't even get their pooch to stop humping the couch pillows, yet a German shepherd is trained in this film to repeatedly pick up a tiny Chihuahua in its mouth and run with it, drop it in a puddle, heft it onto a railroad boxcar - all gently enough so the end credits could reassure that no animals were harmed during the making of this film.
Kids will respond to this one because it's a fiesta of color - again, literally in some scenes. Part of "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" was filmed in Beverly Hills and the studio back lot, but the bulk of it was shot in Mexico: Mexico City, Guadalajara, Hemosillo, Las Palmas, Nuevo Vallarta, Puerto Vallarta, Sayulita, and Xochimilco. Unfortunately, writers Analisa LaBianco, Jeffrey Bushell and director Gosnell miss the chance to turn this into a cross-cultural teaching moment for their young audience.
Apart from a brief comment on a Día de lost Muertos parade, the film instead offers the usual Latino stereotypes and the kind of fast-talking Cheech Marin (Manuel), George Lopez (Papi) dialogue that kids are going to grow up thinking is a standard part of Hispanic culture - things like "What? We're Mexican, not Mexican't!" or "What? Someone stole Chloe's collar? Why, I'm gonna go all kinds of Mexican on them."
The dogs themselves are fun to watch, and the plot is substantial (albeit familiar) enough to engage its target audience. Chloe (voiced by Drew Barrymore) is a pampered white Chihuahua whose owner (Jamie Lee Curtis, seen only briefly at beginning and end) runs Vivacity Cosmetics. This pet is so pampered that she has pet play dates and her own island in the swimming pool, and the same constant fawning attention that the other Beverly Hills dogs receive. But you know her life is going to change the instant that Viv has to go abroad and decides to leave her prized possession (yep, that's how she treats this dog) in the care of her irresponsible niece, Rachel (Piper Perabo).
It doesn't take long before Rachel and her friends are piling into a convertible and going to Mexico for a "whooooooo" spring break sort of trip, taking Chloe along but ignoring her. Shades of "101 Dalmatians" she's captured by dognappers who want her not for a fur coat, but for illegal dogfights. And instead of Cruella De Vil we get a slippery underworld character named Vasquez (José María Yazpik). Whether it's "Get those puppies!" or "I want that Chihuahua!" the result is the same: a chase we've seen before, with helpers on both sides. |
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