With a surprisingly stellar cast, Beverly Hills Chihuahua comes to Blu-ray. Combining real live action with real live puppy action, some of the voices behind the pouches might surprise you. Drew Barrymore, Andy Garcia, Cheech Marin, George Lopez, Loretta Devine, Edward James Olmos, Paul Rodriguez, to name a few, all have something to say through their furry counterparts. Real live stars (not voices) include Piper Perabo and Jamie Lee Curtis.
The premise is simple: Aunt Viv (played by Curtis and appearing at the beginning of the film and the end and in the middle with a few cell phone calls), loves her Chihuahua (voiced by Barrymore) Chloe. Chloe is quite the spoiled pouch: she gets her nails done, enjoys seaweed wraps, is dressed in outrageous designer doggie outfits, and wears a diamond collar worth more than most people’s houses.
Rachel (played by Perabo) somehow becomes the dog’s babysitter when Aunt Viv has to leave. Of course, things go crazy wrong and little Chloe ends up on the street and her little pink booties come off. Her diamond collar gets stolen and recovered and stolen again, and with the help of another doggie friend, she manages to survive.
Her doggie friend is Delgado (voiced by Garcia), and he has a sad story. Once a police dog, he lost his sense of smell and has been dog fighting (this is where he and Chloe meet---at an illegal dog fight). Think Lady and the Tramp: little spoiled princess dog meets street-wise dog and he helps her survive in the real world.
Of course, there are the villains. The villain is a black Doberman, stereotypical, yes. The bad guys take the form of the dog fighting patrons who realize that Chloe might be worth something to them. The Doberman’s name is Diablo - more stereotypical clichés - and is voiced by Olmos.
Within the ultimate tale of survival of a lost little princess, there is a love story that could be considered a sub-plot, if we wanted to go that far. Another Chihuahua, Aunt Viv’s gardener’s little dog, is in love with Chloe. Papi (voiced by Lopez) is the spirit of the film.
He follows Chloe and Delgado to Mexico to try and rescue her. Also, Rachel has some help of the male persuasion, in the form of Pedro (played by Axel Alba). Through out their adventures in trying to find Chloe, their friendship is a budding romance.
The pair - Chloe and Delgado - end up in Mexico and continue their adventures while being chased by the bad dog fighting entrepreneurs and Diablo. A mouse and a iguana have some funny parts - Cheech Marin voices the mouse, but most of the movie was predicable and quite dull for my tastes. I persevered, though, and made it through until the credits rolled but it is not a movie I would want to watch again or own.
However, I do own it, mainly because my children absolutely adore this film. It will appeal to its target audience: kids between the ages of 7 and 13. It is a great move for a family fun night. Pop some popcorn and don’t expect too much, as you can walk out of the room to pop more popcorn and not miss valuable plot points.
It is what it is, and I don’t want to knock it too much for being the type of movie adults might roll their eyes at but watch anyway to appease the wee ones. For that reason alone, it is a good purchase. It is innocent, unassuming, predicable, and at a rare few times, funny and charming.
Blu-ray’s 1080p picture makes the pouches look especially good - Chloe looks quite pampered in her clothes, and especially dirty when the scene warrants it. Little Chihuahuas train hopping is quite dirty business! You feel sorry for the little thing.
Blu-ray’s picture helps the ‘aaaahhh’ factor when Chloe is alone and shivering in the rain with only one pink dirty bootie.
Special features exclusive to Blu-ray include: Pet Pals, the voices behind the dogs, Hitting their Bark: on set with the dogs, deleted scenes with introductions by director Raja Gosnell, and an interactive BD-Live. Other special features include: deleted scenes, blooper scooper, an animated short called Legend of the Chihuahua, and audio commentary by director Gosnell.
The special features are another reason to purchase this Blu-ray, as they are just plain fun and makes the money spent a little less painful.
My consensus: good family fun, well made for what it is in the Hollywood money making machine. Plot and originality might be lacking, but the kiddies will love it. The all-star cast adds to the reason to add this to your collection of family fun Blu-rays.
Beverly Hills Chihuahua [Blu-ray] is now available at Amazon . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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