Review: Cute Factor Can't Save 'Alvin'

'Alvin and the Chipmunks' (PG)(out of four)

The cute factor runs rampant in the new movie "Alvin and the Chipmunks," but it isn't enough to save the 21st century version that turns the rodents into modern-day singing sensations.

The original singing chipmunks gained fame and much radio airplay in the late '50s for their helium-soaked voices and what's become standard Christmas fare "Christmas Don't Be Late." The latest "Alvin and the Chipmunks" features computer-animated Alvin, Simon and Theodore and drops them in situations where they interact with live humans. The trouble is, the humans aren't very exciting or believable and the pranks the 'munksters get caught up in are nothing more than Saturday morning cartoon fare, not the stuff of a 90-minute full-length feature film.

Jason Lee takes over the role of Dave Seville. In the update, he's a down-on-his luck Los Angeles songwriter, whose pal has made it big as a record executive. Dave needs just one big break and gets it when finds the trio of chipmunks who have been displaced from their forest home. He discovers they not only can talk, but sing, too. It's never explained, however, why they talk or sing, one of the many holes in this story.

Dave ends up becoming a surrogate dad to the trio, making sure that while they are skyrocketing to fame, they don't go down the road of excess a la Lindsay or Britney. But crafty record executive Uncle Ian knows there is gold in those chipmunks and he's ready to squeeze every last ounce of it out of the animals.

In one of the funniest scenes of the film, Ian takes over managing the chipmunk "kids" and gives them free rein in their own "crib." They have high-tech toys galore and live in a world with no rules. They go berserk and that's something the youngsters in the audience can't get enough of with plenty of yelps and screams and kids dancing in the aisles and jumping out of their seats.

Lee as Dave appears robotic and doesn't bring any of the prankster fun we've grown accustomed to on TV's "My Name Is Earl" and his role in movies like "Chasing Amy." As for his evil nemesis, comedian David Cross obviously studied cartoon villains for his role as Ian.

But the movie isn't about the human actors. Kids won't care that Dave's love life is suffering, only that the chipmunks get him in plenty of trouble when he invites a date over for dinner. Or that he believes savings bonds are a good investment. The under 6-year-old crowd won't take home the message that it's better to get your rest than to be on a cool Hannah Montana-type tour.

If you're looking for fun kids' fare that'll give the mallrats a break from Christmas shopping madness, "Alvin and the Chipmunks" is a fine diversion. Parents looking for something that will help them escape the madness should drop the kids off with a babysitter at the movie theater front door.