Posted on Sunday, 5th October 2008 by astronomius
Disney’s “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” is a live-action comedy; it has funny situations, funny characters, funny dialogue, and funny-looking dogs like “Papi” (at left) pepper the film throughout. So be encouraged, it is a relaxing comedy you can bring your kids to or forget about the rigors of your hard work day with.
“…Chihuahua” is also a mild adventure of sorts and has some sad and tense moments, but the humor smooths everything over.
And the police catch the bad guys, too.
Chloe, the “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” (voice by Drew Barrymore), has a very cushy life; she’s Aunt Viv’s (Jamie Lee Curtis) prized, pampered pet and they live in a fully-loaded, Beverly Hills mansion. Chloe’s life is full of doggy parties and playdates, even regularly courted by lovable Papi (voice by comedian George Lopez), Sam’s (Viv’s landscaper, played by Manolo Cardona) little helper.
Aunt Viv (Jamie Lee Curtis) soon has to leave for Italy on a business trip and trusts Chloe with her niece, Rachel (a thoroughly spoiled playgirl, played by Piper Perabo) and Rachel later dashes off with Chloe to Mexico City for a weekend getaway with friends. Rachel and Chloe separate and Chloe struggles to survive before Rachel, Sam and Papi can find Chloe and bring her safely back to Beverly Hills before Viv returns.
Chloe’s Mexican adventure includes being taken by bad guys, forced into a brutal, Mexican dogfight arena, escaping onto an old, rusty freight train and traveling to the Mayan ruins of Chihuahua to learn about her Mexican ancestry.
There are many cultural references throughout “…Chihuahua”, as well.
The Mexican holiday “El Dia del Muerte” (Nov. 1 - 2) is briefly celebrated in the story on the streets of Mexico City and the US release of “…Chihuahua” on October 3rd coincides with Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15 to Oct. 15) and Dia de la Raza (Oct. 12), for example.
Papi has the funniest lines in the film that mostly reflect unique, Latino culture such as: “Hey, fool, let’s go!”, going “Mexican all over” and the ever popular “Mexi-can, not Mexi-can’t”.
There are even a few tense moments in the film where Sam (Viv’s landscaper, played by Manolo Cardona) quietly confronts Rachel about her cultural ignorance.
One of the more serious themes tackled in the film has to do with cultural assimilation, and how people of Mexican ancestry can forget or ignore their heritage, and this thread runs lightly, intelligently throughout the film.
The other serious theme of the film is more universal and lurks underneath and throughout: the need to actuate inner might and develop personal integrity.
Nothing like finding or protecting a beloved pet to bring out the hero in (some of) us.
Chloe is heroically protected by a large, hard-bitten but good-natured German Shepherd named Delgado (voice by Andy Garcia) with a mysterious past and serious issues that resolve beautifully in the film’s satisfying conclusion.
The dramatic, inner conflict and change Chloe and Delgado undergo is what gives the movie its emotional punch and the audience takes the rough ride with them.
The direction of the film (Raja Gosnell) is both masterful and insightful, the script (Analisa LaBianco and Jeffrey Bushell) is clever and relatable and the animal training is highly detailed; 42 animal trainers were used to help get the right physical expressions from the animals to match their characters in the story, for example.
Convertible sports cars, fancy hotels, romantic beaches, dark alleys, rusty train yards, scorching deserts, Mayan ruins and intelligent intelligent use of camera angles also add to the depth of the story as we really get into the film’s characters.
What really did it for me, above all of that, were the worthy vocal talents involved; especially the talents of Drew Barrymore and Andy Garcia and they compel audiences to care about and root for troubled characters who could have been reduced to shallow stereotypes in less capable hands.
The musical score and Pop music samples by Brazilian composer Heitor Pereira are highly effective (he usually works with Hans Zimmer); the music is at times riotously funny, but I recommend that you also give close attention to the closing orchestral theme as the end credits finish.
That song is just amazing.
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“Beverly Hills Chihuahua” is a fun, romantic, comic adventure, smartly told and wonderfully made, so sit back and take the trip. You’ll be glad you did.
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Released by Walt Disney Pictures in the US on Oct. 3rd, 2008.
Rated PG for some mild thematic elements.
Length: 91 minutes.
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