'Chipmunks' remake gnaws on your last nerve

By Claudia Puig, USA TODAY

Jason Lee must have ESP.
When he signed on for Alvin and the Chipmunks, presumably well over a year ago, he must have had a sneaking suspicion that the writers would be striking and that his TV series, My Name Is Earl, would be left without fresh episodes.

If not, why in the world did he agree to star in this inane movie adaptation of the forgettable cartoon series of the '60s?

Lee plays Dave Seville, the father figure to three warbling chipmunks, Alvin, Theodore and Simon. Sure, their strange singing voices were once a novelty. But these days, they just sound annoying.

The movie is devoid of laughs, except for a mildly funny segment when one of the chipmunks inhales helium. And since this is aimed at the under-10 set, it includes the requisite flatulence joke and a spit take or two.

This blending of live action and CGI has a modern attitude and lacks the innocence of the cartoon series. The three chipmunks end up in civilization after the pine tree they are foraging in is cut down and transformed into a Christmas tree in a downtown office building where Seville, a composer, is trying to peddle tunes to an obnoxious record exec (David Cross). Through a series of events not worth recounting, the three end up in Seville's house. And, as rodents will, they wreak havoc in a big way.

It's mystifying why the chipmunks, created by Ross Bagdasarian almost a half century ago, are surfacing now. It's also unclear why they bothered to cast actors like Justin Long as Alvin when the chipmunk voices are indistinguishable.

Sure, rodents are hot this year. But unlike Ratatouille's chef prodigy Remy, these mischief makers bring nothing new to the table.