Writing for life

Published in the WOW! supplement of the Evening Echo 10/01/2008

The world, it seems, has gone sale crazy. Not satisfied with the fact that the Irish are the biggest spenders in Europe when it comes to Christmas, judging from the queues in the city lately we’re hell bent on topping the poll in the New Year too. Shops are full of serious shoppers on a serious quest to root out some serious bargains.

There’s something about big red signs with bold white lettering that short-circuits the shopaholic’s brain. The word SALE must mean bargains galore, and besides, at that price leaving it on the shelf would be practically criminal… right? Just remember that “70% off” steal is only a bargain if its something you actually need. If you do find yourself impulse buying in the sales this year, try visualising February’s credit card statement hitting the matt with a thud, its balance akin to an international telephone number, and that might curb your desire to spend.

Needless to say, the city at sale time is no place for husbands or children, so on a recent visit to Cork I elected to take the kids off to the cinema while my wife hit the shops. Fair deal, I thought. There are few things as excruciating as trudging through the shops in the wake of a shopper in full steam.

At the cinema it was a toss up between “Bee Movie” and “Alvin and the Chipmunks”, neither of which really appealed to me – but then I suppose I’m not exactly part of the target demographic. The girls expressed a preference for “Bee Movie”. I was less than thrilled. Both Jerry Seinfeld and Renée Zellweger are undeniably successful people, but they also happen to be two of the most irritating people ever to grace the silver screen. Animation would perhaps take the edge off them, but my vote was still going to the chipmunks.

Things were going my way. We were five minutes late for “Bee Movie” so we headed in to see “Alvin and the Chipmunks”. A modern day take on a 1980s cartoon series about a musical trio of chipmunks, the film takes the increasingly popular technique of mixing animation and live action to an entirely new level.

Created by Ross Bagdasarian Sr, Alvin and the Chipmunks actually started life in 1958, when the squeaky voiced trio, Alvin, Simon and Theodore, released their inaugural single just in time for Christmas. Seven weeks later “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas don’t be late)” had sold four-and-a-half million records – a music industry record. They went on to win five Grammy Awards.

The film follows the chipmunk’s journey from the wilderness to the big city, where they find their way to the home of hapless songwriter Dave Seville (played by a real-life Jason Lee). While they wreak havoc with his domestic harmony, Dave’s discovery that his diminutive house guests can sing resurrects his flagging career. Alvin and the Chipmunks rocket to super-stardom, only to fall into the manipulative clutches boss of JETT Records “Uncle Ian” Hawke (David Cross). Dave rescues his adopted “family”, gets the girl and they all live happily ever after… except, of course, for Uncle Ian.

The seamless meshing of CGI (computer-generated imagery) with live action in this film really has to be seen to be believed… so it’s a shame really that the plot and script never really live up to the quality of the effects. That said it’s a harmless jaunt that has it’s humorous moments for us adults, but that really engages the seven to nine year olds in the audience. At four the little one didn’t really get it – but loved the cute chipmunks and the fact that her older sisters were laughing out loud throughout the film.

All in all then, while it lacks the multi-tiered plot elements and intricately woven innuendoes that make films like Shrek work on so many different levels, as a kids film “Alvin and the Chipmunks” certainly deserves a hearty thumbs up.

Technorati Tags: Alvin and the Chipmunks,cinema,Evening Echo,wriitng,parenting