Alvin and the Chipmunks

Alvin (Justin Long), Simon (Matthew Grey Gubler) and Theodore (Jesse McCartney) are three little chipmunks trying to get by in the world. Then their tree is harvested as a Christmas tree and they find themselves trapped in an office building lobby.

Dave Seville (Jason Lee) is a would be songwriter. He is in his building to see his friend Ian Hawke (David Cross) who is a music producer. The meeting does not go well. When he leaves, his hopes crushed, Dave snags a basket of muffins. In the lobby, the chipmunks stow away, and use the basket to escape.

In Dave's home, the chipmunks have hit the jackpot. They get into all the food, and of course, there is the very funny sequence where Dave is trying discover the source of strange noises and the chipmunks are hiding.

But the truth will out. Then Dave wants to get rid of them, but the boys put on a little musical number, and Dave realizes he might have something here. So he lets them stay.

He wakes up to find his house trashed. The boys tried colouring for awhile, but got bored. Dave finds waffles under the throw rug; winter storage. But he's late, so he doesn't have time to deal with the mess, and he's off to do an add presentation.

The first graph shows an upward progression, and three different progressively larger drawings of Theo's butt.

The next one shows two bars, one high, one lower. The higher one has been labeled "How smart Simon thinks he is." And the lower one has been tagged, "How smart Simon really is." It gets worse. Dave is fired.

So now he is jobless, and his house is overrun with rodents with the average destructive potential of a six year old with ADHD and a major sugar rush.

And when Dave tries to show Ian what his boys can do, they lock up with stage fright. So what is a man to do?

Well, what the chipmunks do is catch a cab to Ian Hunter's house and give him a performance.

The next thing Dave knows, they have a hit record, and the Chipmunks are the biggest thing around.

The chipmunks are growing closer to Dave, but Dave has intimacy issues. And Ian, Ian is greedy. And while Dave has curfews, and bedtimes, and junk food limits, Ian only cares about maximizing exposure and grabbing a bigger market share.

Ian sets out to lure the chipmunks away from Dave's control, and with a combination of bribes and lies, and a forgotten note written by Dave while they were off auditioning Ian, he succeeds.

So now the chipmunks are huge rock stars, with a new edgy sound. They do a five day coast to coast tour, then another 35 cities in 47 days, and so on. Soon, the chipmunks are exhausted. Ian does what ever he has to do to keep them moving. The air horn wake up call was funny, the Frappacino scene is hilarious.

So how will Dave get the Boys back? Will they even want to come home?

This is not deathless cinema. This is a cute little kid's movie. Fortunately it is sharp enough and funny enough that parents can enjoy it too. And there are two important messages here. Dave learns you have to face your feelings, admit to them, and let your loved ones know how you feel. The chipmunks learn that real love sets limits, love is in curfews, and bedtimes, and limits on junk food. Real love sets limits, and puts your welfare above money.

It's a sweet movie, it's a funny movie. The worst thing in it is a scene; oh, heck, here it is:

(Upon coming home to his house being wrecked.)

Dave: "Oh my God Theodore, did you just-?"
Theodore: (nervously) Umm, Umm.
Simon: (picks up a small pellet from in front of Theodore) It's a raisin, Dave.
Dave: Prove it.
Simon: (puts it in his mouth) Mmm-Mmm.
Dave: Okay, you got me. Look, I wanna talk to all you guys. Where's Alvin?
(Heads off toward the kitchen)
Simon: (quickly spits it out and looks sternly at Theodore) You owe me *big* time!

That is the worst thing in the movie. Very kid friendly.

So go take your little ankle biter down to the video store and check this out. And if you don't have kids, borrow some. It's worth it.