"Beverly Hills Chihuahua"

Disappointingly, “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” isn’t the garish, mouth-agape-inducing disaster that its trailer seemed to promise, but rather a benign and (mostly) inoffensive Disney flick that never even approaches the realm of interesting, creative or entertaining. Contrary to the much-mocked yet morbidly transfixing trailer, the film isn’t about dancing, singing Mayan Chihuahuas frolicking in decrepit temples, but instead a dull, by-the-numbers story of pampered Chloe (voiced by Drew Barrymore), who experiences an abrupt culture shift when her master (Jamie Lee Curtis, sleepwalking with a smile through her three scenes) goes on vacation, and her incompetent caretaker (Piper Perabo) brings her to Mexico and loses her. Wackiness and many dogs with stereotypical Latin accents play into the proceedings heavily. There are some mild attempts to grapple with stereotypes in a kidflick manner, but portraying Mexico as a hotbed of criminal activity, featuring lines like "hold your tacos!," and one Mexican dog who is actually (no joke) a landscaper, can’t quite be seen as progressive. Speaking of which, for those who wonder how, aside from parental units, stereotypes get implanted in children’s heads, you need not look further than Michael Urie – also known as “the fag from ‘Ugly Betty’” – lending his voice to Sebastian, a flamboyantly gay dog who uses words like “faboo” (more than once!). But despite the presence of such problematic elements, let me re-iterate: this is a wildly mediocre, uninteresting movie. The lame-ass soundtrack even spells it out for you (e.g.: “Rich Girl,” “Low Rider,” “I’m Too Sexy,” “Hot Hot Hot,” “Hero,” “Whoomp! There It Is”). Don’t be fooled by that horrific/fascinating teaser trailer; “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” is just another in a long line of unmemorable, pandering, generic talking animal movies.