Review: Take Lady and the Tramp, crossbreed it with Babe and a Taco Bell commercial, and you’ll get the latest Disney talking-dog movie, an odd mix that kids are gonna love – even if it’s not best in show.

Story: Chloe (voiced by Drew Barrymore) is a diamond-drenched, pampered pooch who lives the high life in Beverly Hills. Beloved by her owner, Aunt Viv (Jamie Lee Curtis), and adored by the landscaper’s Chihuahua, Papi (George Lopez), she is left with a babysitter, niece Rachel (Piper Perabo), when Viv takes off on vacation. Rachel impulsively departs on a last-minute weekend romp to Mexico, with Chloe, who not only gets lost south of the border but ends up in some very bad company. Saved from certain death in a dog fight, she hooks up with a street-savvy German Shepherd (Andy Garcia) harboring a dark secret from his past life as a police dog. Along the way, her diamond ID collar is swiped by a conniving rat (Cheech Marin) and his accomplice, a very fidgety Iguana (Paul Rodriguez), leading to major chaos as all of them are pursued by the vicious El Diablo (Edward James Olmos), a Doberman out for revenge and one very disoriented Chihuahua. Will Rachel and Papi be able to find her in time before clueless Aunt Viv’s return? That’s the burning question.

Acting: Basically a talking dog movie with a heavy Spanish accent, Beverly Hills Chihuahua doesn’t exactly shy from stereotyped Mexicans, but since this is a canine Babe it manages to get away with just about anything simply because these pooches are just so darned cute. The voice cast, which features such Latino stars as George Lopez, Edward James Olmos, Paul Rodriguez, Cheech Marin and Andy Garcia, is perfectly cast, lending a lot of fun to the proceedings, especially Lopez as the lovably loyal Papi and Marin as a jewel-thief rat. Barrymore is also ideal as the ultra-rich and spoiled Chloe, who is the equivalent of a canine Paris Hilton. The human actors are basically wallpaper, with Curtis given little dimension in her relatively brief screen time and Perabo spending most of the film searching for the pup she carelessly misplaced. Manolo Cardona does nicely as the family gardener who helps out in the search. But it’s the remarkable real dog stars that steal this show. You have to wonder how their trainers, led by Birds And Animals Unlimited’s Mike Alexander, pulled some of this stuff off. These animals are more three-dimensional than most real thesps we’ve seen lately and actually do seem to be mouthing their lines (including some very clever dialogue).

Direction: The old show-business adage says to never work with kids or animals – they take center stage everytime. In this case, director Raja Gosnell and the group of talented trainers behind the cameras have proven the saying absolutely right. Dominating the breezy 86-minute time, the bulk of the movie is devoted to stars of the four-legged variety, and Gosnell makes it look easy with inventive camera angles, giving us the POV of all the various dog stars who seem to be taking on the distinct personalities of the “characters” they are playing, particularly the soulful down-and-out ex-police dog Garcia voices. You really do wonder what this dog’s deep, dark secret is and the relationship forged between him and Chloe is genuinely real. It’s a tribute to Gosnell’s talents and the entire behind-the-scenes team that Beverly Hills Chihuahua turns out to be the family delight it is.

Bottom Line: Hollywood.com rated this film 3 stars.

Review: A remarkable and inspiring true story about a guy with unbelievable grit, determination and heart. You’ll be rooting for him all the way.

Story: This may be the best movie about the invention of the intermittent windshield wiper Hollywood has ever turned out. If that sounds facetious it’s not meant to be. Taking subject matter like this and making it into a populist winner Frank Capra probably would have been proud to direct is a minor miracle. The film revolves around college professor and inventor Robert Kearns’(Greg Kinnear) epic battle with Ford Motor Company over the patent for the intermittent windshield wiper, a device Kearns invented in the ’60s and took to Ford. They praised his work but later ignored him and went ahead with an invention that would become a part of every car on the planet. Kearns then entered into an excruciating quarter of a century suing Ford and other companies over the use of his creation, going through a gaggle of lawyers and settlement offers. His one goal: Ford must admit publicly that they stole his idea. Although the film condenses this battle to 12 years, it’s still the heart of what really happened and the devastating effect his quest had on his family (six kids) and his marriage to his wife, Phyllis (Lauren Graham).

Acting: Kinnear is superb in a tricky role. Kearns isn’t exactly the kind of guy you cozy up to. He’s got almost a single-track vision and goal that threatens his livelihood and his family. It’s hard to understand how he could turn down the kinds of settlements offered for the personal satisfaction of just having a corporation admit they cheated him, but that’s what he does repeatedly. Somehow through Kinnear’s interpretation we can understand the motivation of this man – he felt his once-in-a-lifetime moment had been swallowed up by the Detroit auto machine and he was tossed to the curb. Ultimately, this is a revenge movie. Graham is nicely understated and understandably frustrated as the wife who tries to stand by her man and bring up six kids as their money goes out the window in lawsuits. Dermot Mulroney as an early business partner who doesn’t share the same zeal as Kearns to fight Detroit, is quite good in limited screen time. Best moments in the supporting cast though belong to Alan Alda, sensationally oily as a lawyer who takes on the case and strikes a settlement deal he thinks is a slam dunk. Their restaurant scene is priceless, superbly played by both Kinnear and Alda. You only wish he had a bigger role.

Direction: Marc Abraham is a veteran producer (Children of Men, Spy Game, Air Force One) with a long list of credits, but this is his first outing as a director. Although the film doesn’t really seem to exhibit a singular touch, seeming more like a familiar Hollywood biographical genre-movie, Abraham wisely focuses on the story’s heart and soul making it work as a kind of populist Capraesque entertainment. It’s not flashy but totally absorbing , slick and very professionally made. What could have been a dull, by-the-numbers account of the little guy fighting city hall instead becomes a very personal story of a man obsessed with the kind of justice only he seems to be interested in. It’s a tale of a lonely struggle spread out over many years, a film not so much about a flash of genius, but a battle for self-worth that defined an entire lifetime.

Bottom Line: Hollywood.com rated this film 3 1/2 stars.