Just why the commissioning producers thought that that a film entitled Beverly Hills Chihuahua would draw in an audience is a mystery to me. The very prospect of watching it instilled me with dread as I put the disk into the Blu-ray machine and I’m sure I wouldn’t be alone in that.
Other films in the talking animals genre feature cute animals like pigs (Babe) or parrots (Paulie), and of course Dalmatians (Full Metal Jacket). Chihuahuas however are not cute, they are pretty much repellent as is the vacuous celebrity culture that appears to have adopted them.
So, perhaps unfairly, this film had quite a bit of ground to make up with me even before it started.
So did it pluckily beat the odds and win over the sullen heart of this cold blooded cynic?
Well no, not really.
It was OK I suppose. The acting was reasonable and some of the characters were entertaining, if not a little by-the-numbers( I’m always a sucker for the gruff veteran with a heart of gold and took a particular shine to Delgado, an ex German Shepard police-dog voiced by Andy Garcia).
The plot is your basic fish out of water story, with spoiled Chihuahua Cloe (voiced by Drew Barrymore) getting lost in Mexico and finding her way home whilst being pursued by an evil dog-fighter and his demonic doberman El Diablo (voiced by Admiral Adama from Battlestar Galactica interestingly enough). There are no surprises and no upsets in the story line, which to be honest is fine. Well worn plots are like well worn footpaths; they are worn because they are pleasant to follow. The thing I object to is the lack of humor in the piece.
On the odd occasion Kerry cracked a smile, but I was pretty stoney faced through the whole affair. The obligatory comedy duo was present (in the guise of a rat and an iguana voiced by Cheech Marin and Paul Rodriguez ), but were underused and ineffectual.
But my main issue with the film was that I just couldn’t get over my distaste for the core conceit of having a Chihuahua as the central character. So to be fair the film never really stood a chance with me. If you’re into yappy little dogs that look like rats but without the charm, then you never know, this film may hit all your buttons.
Scanning through other reviews on the internet I noticed that many people were critical of the movies stereotypical treatment of Mexico. This surprised me as I really didn’t pick up on that at all, in fact I thought the movie was relatively enlightened. A fair proportion of the dialogue was in Spanish, and the main human character’s prejudices against Mexicans were held up and challenged quite early on in the film. The mexican police in particular were treated as being competent and modern rather than unsophisticated idiots from a third world country as I’ve seen in other movies. Of course I’m no expert in these things, Mexican stereotyping is probably a lot more basic here in the UK than I imagine it is in the States. I find the further you get away from a country the more unsubtle and broad your archetypes surrounding that place become. Our racial stereotypes of the Scottish are a lot more intricate and refined than those we hold about Eskimos for example.
As always with movies I’ve seen on blu-ray, the picture quality was excellent. The only criticism I have is the length of time it takes to actually start playing, but that’s the same with all of the discs I’ve used and I imagine is something to do with the sheer amount of information that’s stored on it. I’m sure that will improve as time and the technology moves forward
You can buy the Beverly Hills Chihuahua Blu-ray
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I wholeheartedly commend you for actually sitting through this. I wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot pole – dont’ like Chihuahuas at all. Not even a tiny bit.
.-= Kevin Spencer´s last blog ..Phoenix Breakfast Recommendation =-.
@Kevin Spencer, I’m a Disney blu-ray ambassador sir. It’s my duty.
I was traumatised enough at having to sit through the advert for this when I popped a DVD on the other day. You certainly wouldn’t get me watching the whole thing.
Please tell me you watched it with the kids?
.-= Clair´s last blog ..Hadrian’s Walk =-.
I went to the movies with this guy(he is 24). I picked out to see Body of lies and he wanted to Beverly Hills Chihuahua so we went. Why would anyone over 12 want to see that? I mean he is mexican and he said the movie was okay.
Though any movie with talking dogs has to be retarded. What do you think should I judge what movie he wanted to see? Would any normal person over 12 want to see that movie?…
.-= Puerto Vallarta resort´s last blog ..Puerto Vallarta- paradise for vacationers =-.
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