You know who they are. Three cute Chipmunks, that sing cute songs, and act all cute and shit (in this movie they took that last part a bit too literally) and their ever suffering writer/father figure. Add in an evil record mogul and you’ve got the latest incarnation of “Alvin and the Chipmunks”. They’ve been around nearly fifty years and had countless (at least I’m not bothering to count) albums, tv specials, a Saturday morning cartoon, an animated movie (or maybe two, what do I look like to you?) and now a “live action” movie. Of course the anthropomorphic rodents are CGI, but everyone else is a real person (though David Cross might be some type of sarcasm demon from the outer-rings of hell).
Jason Lee (”My Name is Earl”, “The Incredibles,”, “Chasing Amy”) stars as Dave Seville, a struggling song-writer (and a really bad one at that) who finds these three adorable Chipmunks eating his food one night. Rather than check himself in for some serious psychological evaluation (but hey, this is a kid’s movie) he gets them to sing and they become bigger than Hanna Montana over night. David Cross plays the evil record exec that wants to run them ragged and get them hooked on speed (coffee) to keep his pockets swelling. We get to see the birth of the infamous Chipmunk’s “Christmas Song” (which is now mercilessly stuck in my head) and we get to see the writer’s try desperately to dream up as many reasons as possible for Dave to scream “Alvin!” at the top of his lungs. I would be remiss if I didn’t say that the little guys were pretty fucking cute. (Sorry, I had to throw that in there so I didn’t sound like a complete twat.) The animation was some of the better CGI of this type that I’ve seen and they didn’t seem to be floating in the environment at all. (See that George Lucas? Your turn.) Theodore is childlike and chubby, Simon is smart and Alvin is the cool one. Is there anything else about The Chipmunks themselves that I’m missing? I haven’t seen anything of the Chipmunks since I was so young that I thought the Maytag man really did diddle Dudley’s doodle on that “very special” episode of “Diff’ rent Strokes”. Sadly, there were no Chipettes, perhaps in the sequel.
I really like Jason Lee, and I think he is better than his performance in this movie. I don’t blame the movie, I really think he could have done a better job with the material. Maybe it’s the director, Tim Hill’s fault (and with “Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties” under his belt I have no problem placing any blame right at his feet). Lee has never come off as phony, like he did in some of these scenes, before. I’ve always thought he was a very natural actor, but he really overplayed this role. I guess he could have been going for that “live action cartoon” feel, but I think playing the straight man totally straight would have been more effective. David Cross (”Arrested Development”, “Mr. Show”) is Ian, the eeeeeeeevil record exec. He has sleazy down to a “T”, and he should, he does it a lot. I am a big fan of his and I think “Arrested Development” is one of the best sitcoms of all-time (partly due to him). I always loved “Mr. Show” as well, which succeeded despite it’s sometimes overbearing hipster irony. I really wish he could just get a role that he is perfectly suited for AND is a good movie. I’m sure he hates this movie. He bad mouths half of the projects that he works on it seems, and that is my biggest disconnect with him as a performer. I expect to hear him facetiously complaining about the shitty movies that he makes the next time I see him do stand-up, all the while knowing that he has no problem picking up the checks. That said, I would certainly sell out and do a shitty movie if I was offered one, I just wouldn’t bitch about it publicly.
At best I can say that “Alvin and the Chipmunks” wasn’t as bad as I was dreading it would be. I’m not saying it was good mind you, I’m just saying it wasn’t as horrible as I expected. But, when I see a movie like this I have to keep in mind that I am not the target audience. And I don’t mean that in the sense that I am not the target audience for an obvious “chick flick” like PS I Love You, or a movie like Good Luck Chuck (the target audience for which is functionally retarded, myspace-addicted, turd-eating Dane Cook fans - and is there any other kind?). Movies geared to grown-ups of any kind can be judged by grown-ups. But movies for kids, man, movies for kids are tough. This is not one of those great movies that looks like a movies for kids, but is really for everyone like “Ratatouille”, “The Incredibles” or “Iron Giant”. Those movies are good no matter how you look at them. Alvin and the Chipmunks is clearly a movie written for and targeted at children, and no one else. I don’t think the film makers gave the slightest consideration toward making this enjoyable for the parents that had to take their kids to it. It’s just easier to go low-brow, cram in some farts and a poop-eating joke and say it’s a kid’s movie. On second thought, Dane cook fans might like it too. The kids in the audience I saw it with loved it. They laughed (I cried), they even applauded at the end. So, if you (like me) just want your little darling to be happy, there is a good chance they’ll love it. And like I said, it wasn’t quite as bad as I thought it would be, barely even painful.
RATING: 4/10
PS - There is no listing in the credits, or on IMDB but their Maid in the one scene looked disturbingly like Paris Hilton with a black wig and a vicious tan. If anyone can confirm that please let me know so I can drop my rating down three points.
Written by: Gillman on Mon, Dec 31, 2007