Un chihuahua en Beverly Hills

I don't own any dogs nor do I particularly like or dislike them any more than any other animal. So coming from that utterly neutral position, I can say that this movie isn't nearly as terrible as others have implied - often for their own jaundiced reasons.

First, unlike the contemporary Wall-E, this movie isn't preachy about anything. It's just a silly minor adventure with talking animals where all things work out pretty well in the end - as they must in a kids' movie from Disney. Sure, I was bothered by depictions of the excesses of the super rich of Beverly Hills; the way they lavish excess not only upon themselves but their dogs. However, this does exist. There are people who piously attend charity events for starving strangers and then go home to feed their dogs Kobe beef. That's the world and this movie did not make that world.

I would prefer being upset about watching the reality of such excess than watching the superb and factually accurate Hotel Rwanda. I found that movie unwatchable due to the pain it evoked in me knowing that these events actually occurred during my lifetime.

So given a choice - do I wish to feel pain at real or even a pretend horror depiction or contempt at the super rich's folly? I'll take the latter.

This movie is silliness with some amusing CGI. Let's not get overly concerned that it should be more than that.

As a "co-owner" of two Chihuahua's, I was dragged to the theater to see this disastrous film. It's not my typical fan fare, one usually consisting of international dramas and intellectual plots. And on all of these measures, this movie utterly fails. But somehow I was OK with this and have come to slightly appreciate the film through the lens of it's audience.

It is a quaint family film which transcends our four legged friends celebrating the love and struggles in life. The movie is a triangulation of ideas - It plays on the differences in people, it's a coming of age story, it plays on loyalty, and has an innocent love dynamic. These themes are portrayed allegorically through some of American's purist companions - dogs. This is a painfully light hearted film about a "stuck up" female dog who ends up on an unexpected journey in Mexico which leads to love and change. It's an tired old theme, and as it delivers laughs very sparingly, but it still manages to deliver family fun and has some redeeming qualities.

This movie at best is seen through the lens of a 5 year old's mindset and aptly was aimed at and delivered to that demographic in spades. We have grown spoiled with "childrens" movies containing complicated subtexts for adults, this one does none of these things, if you want something better, watch WALL-E.

This movie has a lower rating than "Superhero movie". And that was absolutely crap. I am not a child and not a dog lover. Still i found myself liking this movie.And no I am not suffering from any mental illness or something like that. Honestly the nerve of people to say something like that. I wonder if most of the reviewers actually have seen the movie. If so what did these people expect from a movie like this. A talking Chihuahua reciting a poem from Shakespeare or just a cute dog mixed up in some little adventure. Compared to previous Disney movies about animals it is on the same level. So what if it isn't original. What movie is these days. This movie hasn't got one dull moment. I sat through the movie without ever looking at the clock. And I can tell you that a lot of the big titles that came out this year wished they had the same effect on me.Most of the box office titles made this year have disappointed me much more because I had high expectations. For "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" i had no expectations whatsoever and got rewarded with fun.

Alright, so tons of people are bashing this movie even though they didn't see it. I thought it would be dumb too... until my friend practically dragged me to see it with her. It sounds like this movie would be about chihuahuas in Beverly Hills and their luxurious lives and basically a 'Clueless' with doggies instead. And it is, for the first 10 minutes or so.

But then, it transitions into something completely different than where I thought it was going. I liked how it eventually talked about cultural identity and not forgetting where you're from, which was a good direction for the movie. With that, it was good how the human girl and the girl chihuahua both become less ignorant as the film progresses. And, come on, it was adorable how this was basically a chick flick with little doggies instead! It was pretty hilarious in some parts (George Lopez as Papi!) especially with some interesting song choices, lol. My only quibbles were the slight sappiness with the whole Disney has-to-have-a-moral dialogue and that Drew Barrymore's voice was annoying after a while as the lead chihuahua with her whining... Still, it was pretty great and it got the whole theater laughing at several points.

It's nice to have a movie that doesn't take itself that seriously once in a while :] So basically, go see this before you condemn it to a rating worse than "Gigli"'s!

Granted Beverly Hills Chihuahua is not a perfect movie, the story is predictable and the script while a vast majority of the time cute and funny was occasionally a little too clichéd, silly and frothy. But hey for a family movie I think it worked. I am a 19 year old girl, and have a soft spot for family movies, so this was ideal and I enjoyed it. The scenery is superb, the soundtrack is suitably upbeat, the dogs are pitch perfect with the lip movements surprisingly not too sloppy, Drew Barrymore and George Lopez are touching and believable together and hearing the amazing Placido Domingo as the voice of Monte is a major plus and make anybody's day, whether you are an opera fan or not(by the way, I am). All in all, I liked it very much for what it was. It is hardly Oscar-worthy, but it never tried to be, it aimed to be undemanding fun and that's what it was. 8/10 Bethany Cox