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Review: Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son
Reviews
Beverly Hills Chihuahua
A kooky Disney cross-breed
By
TOM MEEK
|
October 9, 2008
BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA
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2.0
Stars
I’m not sure what the genesis for this kooky Disney cross-breed was: the Taco Bell chihuahua or Leona Helmsley leaving her fortune to a pampered pooch. Both seem in play when a diamond-collared lap Lassie from 90210 gets lost in Mexico City and a neglectful handler must retrieve the prized pet before the doting owner returns stateside. The long tail chase does offer some astounding canine performances. (How do they elicit those facial expressions?) Drew Barrymore voices the doe-eyed dog of the title, Chloe; Piper Perabo gets the unenviable role of the party-happy niece turned reluctant dog nanny. George Lopez’s he-man chihuahua Papi gets in his licks, but this dog never quite hunts, and the hoky computer FX used by director Raja Gosnell stick out like a cat in a kennel. About the only one who unleashes any enthusiasm is Jamie Lee Curtis as Chloe’s obscenely rich owner.
85 minutes | Boston Common + Fenway + Fresh Pond + Chestnut Hill + Suburbs
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ARTICLES BY TOM MEEK
REVIEW: UNDERWORLD: AWAKENING
| January 24, 2012
The Underworld series got long in the tooth early, but here, in the fourth installment (directed by Swede Måns Mårlind), it grows new fangs.
REVIEW: JOYFUL NOISE
| January 10, 2012
There's not much joy but there's plenty of noise of the rafter-rocking gospel singing variety in Tony Graff's musical dramedy.
REVIEW: IN THE LAND OF BLOOD AND HONEY
| January 05, 2012
Jolie has loosely reworked the story of Romeo and Juliet in an infamous setting familiar from CNN but here seen from the inside.
REVIEW: ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: CHIPWRECKED
| December 13, 2011
For 50 years, Alvin and the Chipmunks have been driving parents nuts with their helium-infused banter and shrill bastardizations of pop music.
REVIEW: TRESPASS
| October 13, 2011
If Rod Lurie's errant remake of Straw Dogs didn't tickle your morbid fear of home invasion, then perhaps the latest from Joel Schumacher ( Falling Down ) might do the job.
See all articles by:
TOM MEEK
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