Wednesday, March 04, 2009

2/28/09: Beverly Hills Chihuahua (2008)

DISNEY WEEK
Disney week (and my vacation) came to a close with this unshaggy-dog story. One of my main theories about going to the movies is that even a mediocre film can seem good if your expectations were low enough going in. In the case of Beverly Hills Chihuahua, my expectations were nonexistent, so it had more than a fighting chance. To my surprise and delight, I found BHC to be more than merely watchable; it's actually a great deal of fun. Aimed squarely at kids, it won't insult the intelligence of Mom and Dad. This is the second time I've seen Drew Barrymore voice a canine character (remember Olive the Other Reindeer?), and she brings Chloe to life with help from the CGI wizards. The other dogs get their voices courtesy of George Lopez, Edward James Olmos and Andy Garcia, while Cheech Marin and Paul Rodriguez have a lot of fun as a rat and an iguana, respectively. None of the humans are quite as winning as the animals, but this search-and-rescue story—the billionth of its kind from Disney—somehow gels very nicely. It's cute and consistently funny. No doubt it helped to have zero expectations, but I found myself loving virtually every second of this. Viewed on board the Disney Wonder ship, in the Buena Vista Theater—the perfect place to see a Disney film. Rating: 5/5.

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