Beverly Hills Chihuahua

Yet another too-precious-by-half film in which the mouths of real-life animals are digitally manipulated to make it appear as if they are speaking, director Raja Gosnell's stale comedy Beverly Hills Chihuahua finds Drew Barrymore supplying the voice for Chloe, the pampered titular pooch, who is brought to a hotel in Mexico by her owner Viv's (Jamie Lee Curtis) less-than-attentive niece Rachel (Piper Perabo). Naturally, Chloe becomes lost, after which she is captured by ruffians looking for dogfight contestants. Chloe is eventually rescued by a German shepherd (Andy Garcia) and a would-be lover Chihuahua named Papi (George Lopez) belonging to Viv's gardener. The gags are mostly puerile and the human performers seem embarrassed, although the film boasts one weirdly memorable sequence in which Chloe becomes mixed up with radical Chihuahua liberationists (!) who indoctrinate her with revisionist history. Not a necessary purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director Raja Gosnell, the “Legend of the Chihuahua” animated short (3 min.), deleted scenes, three minutes of bloopers, and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are the behind-the-scenes featurettes “Hitting their Bark: On Set with the Dogs” (13 min.) and “Pet Pals: The Voices Behind the Dogs” (10 min.), as well as more deleted scenes, and the BD Live function. Bottom line: a decent extras package for a real barker.] (E. Hulse)