Alvin and the Chipmunks

20th Century Fox

The Bigger Picture:  The most famous music trio with tails is tackling the superficial world of pop music with the help of Jason Lee and a smarter than expected script. A perfectly enjoyable flick for the kiddies and mildly amusing for their parents.

Review in a Hurry:  In 1958, impoverished songwriter Ross Bagdasarian Sr. had a crazy idea: Speed up vocal tracks to produce a funny squeak and credit the sound to three chipmunk siblings. Alvin and the Chipmunks remained popular throughout the '80s and '90s, and are now reinvented for the '00s.

The signature "ALLLL-VINN!" is brought to life this time around by Jason Lee. He brings a careworn edge to his role as Dave Seville, an amateur songwriter who by chance brings home these three cuddly creatures. When he finds out they can talk and sing, he crafts simple sweet melodies for them, and three teeny stars are born.

But Dave has commitment issues, he can't commit to a girl (neighbor Claire, played by Cameron Richardson), he can't commit to a job, he can't even commit to caring for the chipmunks. The head of their record label, the slimy Ian (David Cross), takes over their care, and that's when the trouble starts.

Under Ian's control, Alvin, Simon and Theodore are forced to wear lamé, perform cheesy dance routines and lip-synch. They're making big money, but their body and minds are exhausted. (Sound familiar, Britney?)

That's the big surprise of the Alvin and the Chipmunks—it takes some real cojones to make a dig at the same pop stars that the movie's target audience worships. If Dave doesn't rescue the little guys from their pop star hell, their musical integrity will be ruined!

Sure, the jokes are obvious, the plot's a little corny—but c'mon, it's a movie about talking chipmunks. That considered, it's got clever—even funny—moments, a good message and, thanks to excellent computer effects, ridiculously cute stars.

The 180—a Second Opinion:  In a movie that comes with some pretty low expectations, the actors have to be supersolid and able to handle the silliest dialogue. Lee, Cross and the voice acting of Justin Long, Jesse McCartney and Matthew Gray Gubler as the chipmunks, are all very good. Cameron Richardson, as David's love interest Claire, is so not. Her appearance elicits groans. Her eyes are dead. The chipmunks out-act her, for Pete's sake. Now, that's nuts.