Seattle Alvin and the Chipmunks

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Free Classifieds Seattle, WA

Genre: Animation, Comedy, Family
Release Date: 12/14/2007
Running Time: 92 mins
Director: Tim Hill
Cast: Jason Lee, Ross Bagdasarian Jr., Janice Karman, Don Tiffany, David Cross, Cameron Richardson, Jane Lynch, Jordan Green, Allison Karman, Tiara Parker
Producer: Janice Karman, Ross Bagdasarian Jr.
Writer: Jon Vitti
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Offical Site: Click Here
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Box Office

2012, 65.2 mil, 65.2 mil
Disney's A Christmas Carol, 22.3 mil, 63.3 mil
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, 5.9 mil, 8.7 mil
The Men Who Stare at Goats, 5.9 mil, 23.0 mil
Michael Jackson's This Is It, 5.1 mil, 67.2 mil
The Fourth Kind, 4.6 mil, 20.4 mil
Couples Retreat, 4.2 mil, 102.0 mil
Paranormal Activity, 4.0 mil, 103.7 mil
Law Abiding Citizen, 3.8 mil, 67.2 mil
The Box, 3.2 mil, 13.2 mil

Movie Title, Weekly Earnings, Total Earnings

Alvin and the Chipmunks

The only way a Chipmunks movie could be even remotely interesting would be for it to deconstruct the characters, à la Scrappy in the live-action Scooby-Doo: Make them evil bastards who secretly plan to drive Dave Seville (here played by Jason Lee) to suicide with their crazy antics and obnoxious helium voices. Needless to say, the Bagdasarian family, who created the furry beasts, aren't about to undermine their cash cow, so what we get instead are Alvin, Simon, and Theodore, lovingly rendered in fuzzy, huggable CG. Effects apparently sapped the movie’s budget so such things as continuity and art direction have gone out the window. And did nobody involved notice the irony of the film’s villain being a sleazy record-company executive (David Cross, giving it his all) who wants to milk the singing-chipmunk gimmick dry? Lee, acting through gritted teeth, barely musters the energy to yell "Alvin!" but the chipmunks themselves — voiced by Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler, and Jesse McCartney — are surprisingly appealing, though their newly R&B-tinged rendition of "Witch Doctor" is godawful. — Luke Y. Thompson