Let the dog in!

With a monster DIY project happening at our house (which I’ll probably blog about, knowing me), Kid and I left to go see Beverly Hills Chihuahua starring Drew Barrymore as Chloe, the chihuahua.

How was it? Not bad. I kinda liked it, so that’s pretty good for a movie clearly targeted for kids. I just gave it 3 of 5 stars on Netflix. In fact, I’d like to go on record for appreciating a movie that is for kids, at a short length for kids, and not truly an adult film made in animation. Oh, one movie comes to mind…..Wall-e. And Ratatouille. And, well, you get the idea. Chihuahua doesn’t scream Pixar maturity and complexity, and I liked that about it.

A few scenes of dog fighting in Mexico (from Disney?!) and a mean doberman seemed a little scary for youngsters (dobermans get the short shrift with the stereotyping!), but Kid didn’t seem too bothered by it. I’ll let you know if she has nightmares later about it….

My favorite part of the movie involved a wild Chihuahua gang who chanted “No Mas!” all the time and lived around some Mexican ruins. That cracked me up. Even now, I’m grinning about it. We are “tiny but mighty,” they said. Reminds me of the Horton Hears a Who movie’s “a person’s a person, no matter how small.”

[I think these are valuable concepts, unless you are a mother to a young child who wages a strike against your parental management...]

And I appreciated the themes of the show, getting in touch with your ancestral history and inner strength, being responsible, not judging others, and finding homes for stray dogs. Really. Ironic when the main selling point in the commercials is Beverly Hills glam.

Overall, we liked it. So if you find yourself with that deadly combo of child and rainy afternoon, go to the movies!