BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA

Buddy story, an offbeat tale of love and a colourful road movie involving kidnapping, all rolled into one. (Review by Billy Suter, courtesy of The Mercury)

Any family film that manages to charm while parodying celebrity excesses, and also send clear messages about loyalty and being true to oneself, wins my vote.

The glossy new Disney comedy-adventure Beverly Hills Chihuahua – a buddy story, an offbeat tale of love and a colourful road movie involving kidnapping, all rolled into one – offers all the above, as well as some cautionary wise words about stereotyping, both ethnic and canine.

Kudos to the producers, too, for literally spelling out, during the closing credits montage, the added advice that caring for a pet involves heaps more than simply dressing it up to look like a ridiculous fashion accessory.

Directed by Raja Gosnell, Beverly Hills Chihuahua is a delightful, story about the cute, petite, pampered pooch of the title, pet of an eccentric cosmetics mogul (Jamie Lee Curtis). The dog, a smug, snobby little bitch, is called Chloe and when we first meet her she’s parading in frilly skirt, pink Italian-leather booties and wearing Chanel No 5 and a Harry Winston diamond collar, as she is dropped off, with her pretentious, ostentatious furry friends, at a Rodeo Drive doggy parlour.

Chloe and her pals bark when humans hear them, but when they chat among themselves they speak English – Chloe with the voice of Drew Barrymore, and her zealous admirer, a hunky landscaper’s dog, in the voice of George Lopez.

Life is all luxury for Chloe until her owner leaves her in the weekend care of a babysitter (Piper Perabo) who decides to head for a weekend of fun in Mexico with some buddies, dragging Chloe along.

The adventure accelerates when Chloe is kidnapped by a greasy gang that rounds up hounds for illegal dog fights. This ordeal paves the way for the Chihuahuas to see life from a different perspective; run into a fiendish foe in a slobbering Doberman (Edward James Olmos); make friends with a world-weary Alsatian that has a secret and talks with the voice of Andy Garcia; and find admiration from scores of pooches at the Aztec ruins.

She also crosses paths with two offbeat con-artist buddies, a goofball iguana and a rascally rodent (Cheech Marin). Also listen for the voices of Placido Domingo (as a stray called Monte), Paul Rodriguez and Loretta Devine.

Lots of fun and moralising unfolds in a film that is also technically proficient, the use of convincing talking mouths on the animals having come a long way since it was first used to good effect in Babe.

The animals are cute, there’s comedy and action aplenty and some good lessons are to be learned. What more would you want from a family film? Treat the kids! Rating: 7/10 - Billy Suter