From Bambi's mother getting killed by hunters, to using fur as a fashion statement and dognapping dalmatian puppies in order to make a coat, to the 'pound' scene in Lady and the Tramp, to the 'circle of life' in The Lion King, to the more recently depicted disabled marine animals in Finding Dory...adults should give credit where it's due. After all, chances are, parents aren't going to introduce such dreadful topics to their children.True: Depending on the age of the viewer, much of the more meaningful, macabre content of this movie could go unnoticed. But for those old enough to grasp the depravity of dog fighting, the greed behind stealing Chloe's diamond collar and then - grabbing HER a second time for ransom, and the plight of homeless dogs, I think Disney is a master at exposing such atrocities while avoiding graphic details that would understandably frighten its youngest audience.Being involved with animal rescue for 30 years, I also appreciated their comment at the end, something like: While everyone at Disney and our producers would like every homeless dog to have a loving home, please do your research before making a commitment.The only reason I gave it 9 stars (rather than 10) was because they portrayed El Diablo - a doberman pinscher - as being mean-spirited and vicious, instead of dutiful and repentant.For one thing: this breed has already been subjected to criticism, condemnation, exploitation and abuse back in the seventies.For another: I am against the one dimensional characterization of ANY specific breed - something that could easily influence the general public/less knowledgeable individual. Absolutely any breed/type of dog can be made to be aggressive -- not just the falsely accused "bully breeds."

Aunt Viv (Jamie Lee Curtis) is going away and leaving her spoiled little dog Chloe (Drew Barrymore) to her irresponsible niece Rachel (Piper Perabo). They don't like each other. Gardener Sam Cortez (Manolo Cardona) has a dog Papi (George Lopez). Rachel has a last minute vacation in Mexico with her girlfriends Angela (Ali Hillis) and Blair (Marguerite Moreau). Chloe is dognapped into a dog fighting ring and joins in a mass escape led by Delgado (Andy Garcia). Rachel goes to Mexico City to find her while Sam comes to help bringing along Papi.So this is a silly kids movie. The dogs are cute and actually funny sometimes. Everybody grows and learns some good lessons. However it never gets beyond being a silly kids movie, and there are some bad stereotyping going on. It becomes more annoying than touching. It's better than expected but that's not saying much.

Granted Beverly Hills Chihuahua is not a perfect movie, the story is predictable and the script while a vast majority of the time cute and funny was occasionally a little too clichéd, silly and frothy. But hey for a family movie I think it worked. I am a 19 year old girl, and have a soft spot for family movies, so this was ideal and I enjoyed it. The scenery is superb, the soundtrack is suitably upbeat, the dogs are pitch perfect with the lip movements surprisingly not too sloppy, Drew Barrymore and George Lopez are touching and believable together and hearing the amazing Placido Domingo as the voice of Monte is a major plus and make anybody's day, whether you are an opera fan or not(by the way, I am). All in all, I liked it very much for what it was. It is hardly Oscar-worthy, but it never tried to be, it aimed to be undemanding fun and that's what it was. 8/10 Bethany Cox

This is a cute fun movie for dog lovers of all ages. It is a love story between Cloe & Papi (voices of Drew Barrymore & George Lopez). The Mexican locales add greatly. There are no fake Hollywood set pieces. All the dog voices are pitch perfect. Placido Domingo? Really? Anytime a 20M movie makes 100M that means sequel. The sequel to this movie went straight to DVD. It isn't quite up to the original as sequels often are. Still if you have to babysit some kids & you are stuck indoors on a rainy day = this is a perfect movie. The only way to improve this movie would be to turn it into a musical.Or maybe a puppet movie like Team America.