Three words about Alvin and the Chipmunks -- better than expected. More words on that anon.

In the meantime, a few words about what may be the weirdest acting gig of the year -- voicing Alvin ("Mac" guy Justin Long), Simon (Matthew Gray Gubler) and Theodore (tween-pop singer Jesse McCartney).

It's not that it's unusual for "name" actors to voice animated characters. It's just weird when you're already performing faceless, and your voice is speeded up and digitally helium-tweaked to become unrecognizable. It's almost a Zen acting job -- are you even there?

These are the kinds of things you think about when Alvin And The Chipmunks goes into the sort of kid-movie plot autopilot you expect from the director of Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties.

The good news is, there are rather few of those moments. With its CGI rodent stars bouncing around creating havoc, pooping, farting and eating (when they're not singing and dancing), Alvin and the Chipmunks is more pinball machine than movie. It is the kind of perpetual motion device that, judging by the screams of pre-schoolers in a preview audience, will snag the shortest attention spans.

And frankly, isn't that what parents want?

Well, they also might want to not have their own childhood icons sullied. And despite the liberties taken (the live-action chipmunks are not people-sized as in the cartoons. Frankly that would be creepy and would probably scare children), it doesn't feel as if they've done the Chipmunk tradition any damage. Not even when Alvin sings, "Don't you wish your girlfriend was a freak like me?"

In a world where The Witch Doctor was never a hit and the original Chipmunks never happened (nor, for that matter, did the Hamster Dance, apparently), a loser songwriter named Dave Seville (My Name Is Earl's Jason Lee) tinkers away on bland mordant pop tunes, while his college-friend-turned-crass-record-mogul Ian (David Cross) tries to get him to pack it in.

Enter three superbly choreographed specimens of tamias striatus who find themselves homeless after their pinetree home is chopped down to serve as a Christmas tree at the record label's office building (this after a harmonically trilling rendition of the American Idol standard Bad Day).

By antic means, Alvin, Simon and Theodore end up in Dave's house, knocking things over and overindulging. When they're discovered, Dave overcomes the shock of talking rodents much faster than most of us would, and quickly discovers their knack with a song.

No sooner than you can say Funkytown, the Chipmunks are on tour with hit singles, DJs, dancers and a light show.

Did I mention that Dave also has "commitment issues" as embodied by his spectacular ex-girlfriend Claire (Cameron Richardson)? This is the pop-psych framework around which the Chipmunks is built, with Dave having to decide that he's mature enough to play father and pull his "boys" away from the corrupting life of showbiz (with those three magic words "Alvin ... Alvin ... ALVIN!!!).

Alvin And The Chipmunks moves, little children love it and it's not too painful for adults. All in all, an okay little hit of helium.

(This film is rated G)
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