In this movie, Chloe (voiced by Drew Barrymore) is a pampered dog of great status, for she is owned by Viv (Jamie Lee Curtis), the owner of a huge cosmetics company and is greatly loved. In fact, Viv makes a point of saying several times that Chloe is her most precious possession. But, when Viv has to go away for a brief business trip in Europe, and the normal dog-sitter is unavailable, she asks her niece, Rachel (Piper Perabo) to look after her. Unfortunately for Chloe, Rachel isn't really the most responsible person in the world and when she and her friends head down for a weekend of fun in Mexico (with Chloe in tow), Chloe ends up kidnapped and put in a dog-fighting match.
While Chloe fends for her life in the streets of Mexico, with a new K9 friend in the German Shepherd Delgado (Andy Garcia), Rachel recruits the help of Viv's landscaper, Sam (Manolo Cardona) and his Chihuahua, Papi (Geroge Lopez). Of course, Papi is in love with Chloe, but because of his lowly status, she all but ignores his passes. Now the three will scour Mexico looking for the lost dog and Chloe will have many adventures as she tries to escape a Doberman named Diablo (Edward James Olmos) and tries to get back home.
Acting as a comedic relief pair is Cheech Marin (as a pack rat) and Paul Rodriguez (an iguana), and their chemistry works really well together. While their parts are minor, it is because of them that Chloe loses her very distinct, and very expensive collar that makes her so unique. Also along the way, Chloe will end up learning a lot about her Chihuahua heritage as she stumbles across a lost tribe of Chi-Warriors who teach her of her noble breed.
I was a little disappointed in the special features of Beverly Hills Chihuahua, but really only when compared to the Blu-ray version. There is a blooper reel that shows more than just dogs misbehaving on set, a few deleted scenes (of which there are more on the Blu-ray) and a really good animated short concerning the history of the Chihuahua. Of these, the latter is the best and most enjoyable, but who can resists watching footage of dogs simply doing what they want instead of what their trainer wants.
I really enjoyed Beverly Hills Chihuahua. It is a cute and family-friendly movie where we see that even the smallest creatures can have a lot of character. This is a good movie for the kids and if your young one wants something with a talking dog in it, then this is definitely an improvement on other similar films. At least the CG lips aren't nearly as fake looking. But if you want special features, then the Blu-ray version might be more up your alley.
