Movie Review: Puts the “Wow” In “Chihuahua

Just when you thought we didn’t need another talking animal movie…
In “Beverly Hills Chihuahua”, Drew Barrymore is the voice of the lead character, a spoiled Chihuahua from Beverly Hills named Chloe. When her owner goes on a vacation where dogs are not allowed, she leaves her self absorbed, irresponsible niece, Rachel, to look after Chloe. While taking care of Chloe, Rachel decides to take a trip to Mexico with her friends, and brings Chloe along. When Rachel gives her the wrong type of dog food, she runs out of the hotel, only to get dog-napped by a group of criminals who run an illegal dog-fighting business.
The owners of the dog-fighting business pit Chloe up against a vicious Doberman named Diablo. Just when Diablo is about to have her for lunch, a German Shepherd named Delgado swoops to her rescue and saves her, releasing all the other captured dogs at the same time. Delgado and Chloe run around Mexico, happy to have escaped. The bad guys trail a few feet behind her, though. They realize that Chloe is valuable, and send Diablo out to look for her. Delgado, an ex police dog, knows that they are trying to find Chloe, so he tries to get her as far away from them as possible. Add a nervous Iguana and a diabolic rat, who want to steal Chloe’s diamond necklace, to the mix.
Meanwhile, Rachel realizes that Chloe is missing, and calls her aunt’s gardener and his Chihuahua Papi, who happens to be in love with Chloe, to come to Mexico and help look for her. Together, they travel the country, trying to find her. The plot gets a little confusing around the middle, because there are so many characters and different story lines added. Also, the ending is really mushy and predictable: Chloe discovers that she is meant to be much more than a spoiled lap dog and starts dating Papi; the bad guys are captured; and Delgado starts working as a police dog again. Despite all that, the movie is actually really good. Its cute and funny at times, and its definitely not a waste of your money.
The acting/ voicing are also good(cast includes George Lopez, Andy Garcia and Piper Perabo). So good, it actually makes you believe that dogs can talk. Until the movie ends, that is.
“Chihuahua” may not be a laugh-out-loud comedy, but you certainly crack a smile every now and then. Maybe even a chuckle.
Rating: 1 1\2 tails up.