Below are Mini Reviews from Cineman Syndicate for four films opening the week of December 21, 2009.

ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: THE SQUEAKQUEL. After the surprising financial success of the 2007 flick, a second helping of furry antics was inevitable. With Dave (Jason Lee) laid-up in a Paris hospital, his slacker cousin (Zachary Levi) sends Alvin, Simon and Theodore to high school in LA, where they have a sing-off against their female equivalents The Chipettes. Sounds like a rodent Glee. If only. Perfunctorily cute, the only selling points are the seamless mix of CGI and live-action, and that it goes by in a flash. Then again, if the kids weren't wowed by their Christmas gifts and need to get out of the house, parents may be forced to summon "Alvin!" (PG) BORING COMEDY.  Director - Betty Thomas; Lead - Jason Lee; Running Time - 88 minutes. 

THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS. Had Heath Ledger lived to complete his role, Terry Gilliam's contemporary fable probably wouldn't have turned out very different qualitatively. Having three actors – Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, and Jude Law -- fill in as a London swell distraught after a society scandal makes perfect sense in this enticing dreamscape. Besides, Christopher Plummer's titular Faust and his band of roving minstrels winsomely anchor the picture. Ledger's character meets them just as Parnassus' latest wager with the Devil (a terrific Tom Waits) is about to expire, meaning he must forfeit his sixteen-year-old daughter's soul. What ifs and wherefores become irrelevant the minute you pass through Gilliam's sparkly looking-glass. (PG-13) GOOD FANTASY. Director - Terry Gilliam;  Lead - Heath Ledger; Running Time - 122 minutes. 

IT'S COMPLICATED. In truth, this Williams-Sonoma commercial isn't complicated enough. Aimed at an underserved demographic, the talky romantic-comedy imagines a middle-aged woman (Meryl Streep) and her ex (Alec Baldwin) having an affair ten years after divorcing. He's married to a nagging trophy wife and she's become a mini Martha Stewart, baking yummy treats in bucolic Santa Barbara. Something's amiss when Steve Martin, as her architect, is never allowed to cut loose. Although Streep and Baldwin effortlessly communicate a few amusing insights into the desires of aging rich people, writer/director Nancy Meyers forgot to add yeast – or, better yet, doses of comedic Viagra and estrogen – to her recipe. (R) FAIR ROMANTIC COMEDY. Director - Nancy Meyers;  Lead - Meryl Streep; Running Time - 118 minutes. 

SHERLOCK HOLMES. With Robert Downey Jr. playing an equally brainy and physical Holmes, Guy Ritchie combines the pleasures of watching, say, Basil Rathbone as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's sleuth with those had from watching an energetic, effects-laden blockbuster. Distracted by the impending marriage of Dr. Watson (Jude Law), Holmes tangles with an old flame (Rachel McAdams) and a Lord (Mark Strong) versed in the black arts. He craves "data" on which to train both his gray matter and his fists, yet that still leaves ample time for lighthearted banter and sets that go boom. The modern irony coursing through the movie meshes well with its charms as an old-fashioned, Saturday afternoon serial. (PG-13) GOOD ADVENTURE. Director - Guy Ritchie; Lead - Robert Downey Jr.; Running Time - 125 minutes. 

COPYRIGHT 2009 CINEMAN SYNDICATE LLC.

(All capsule reviews by John P. McCarthy.)