‘Herbie’ not fully loaded, but not running on empty
Posted by Dennis Sellers 
Jun 23, 2005 at 12:44am
Lindsey Lohan has had had impeccable track record in the remakes of Disney films (The Parent Trap and Freaky Friday) until now. Herbie: Fully Reloaded will please kids and perhaps rekindle a bit of nostaglia in some parents for the Herbie series that launched in 1968. However, the film—written by Gordon Buford and Thomas Lennon and directed by Angela Robinson—does little to freshen up the tale of a Volkwagon Beetle with a personality and some supernatural talents.
As it is, it’s innocuous enough. Herbie is rescued from a junkyard with Maggie Peyton (Lohan) just before he’s about to be demolished along with other cast-off vehicles. She soon finds out that Herbie is “alive” and a handful of automotive mischief for such a small car.
For instance, while on a test run, Herbie goads famous race car driver, Trip Murphy (Matt Dillion) into a street race that ends up televised. Herbie wins and Murphy wants revenge. Maggie’s father Ray (Michael Keaton) sees the race and isn’t happy, especially since he won’t allow her to race—although he does let her brother Ray Jr. (Breckin Meyer) compete on the NASCAR level though he’s not as talented behind the wheel as his sis. It’s not that Ray is a sexist; it’s that Maggie has recently been hospitalized after wrapping a car around a tree.
Ray and Maggie’s friend, Kevin (Justin Long), support her dream to become a pro race car driver and the former helps her spruce up Herbie. Not surprisingly, we soon find Maggie (pretending to be Max, a male race car driver) battling with Murphy and a souped up speedster—in not one climatic race, but two.
Herbie: Fully Loaded is fascinating in that, on almost every level, it could have been made in 1968. There’s even a 70s/80s classic rock soundtrack. On one hand, this is entertaining in a retro sort of way. On the other hand, the film would certainly be more appealing if it had worked in some real character development. It’s characters are all stock figures, from the plucky heroine to the sneering villian (Dillion should have a moustache to twirl). Family film or not, it’s not praise to say that a VW Beetle is the best developed “character” in the film.
The actors do okay with their roles, though only Lohan rises above the predictable script. Her Maggie is as perky and plucky as you’d expect, but the talented young actress manages to add some unexpeted shadings to the role. However, it does sadden me to see Keaton, a very talented actor/comedian (Batman, Batman Returns, Beetlejuice, etc.) reduced to stock roles in this film and hokem like White Noise.
Also a trvia note (per the IMDb Web site: At test screenings, some parents felt that Lindsay Lohan’s character was too busty and revealingly dressed for a children’s film. Disney technicians went back and digitally raised necklines on her shirts and reduced the appearance of her breasts by two cup sizes.
Herbie: Fully Loaded is rated G. Macsimum rating: 6 out of 10. Running time: 101 minutes. You can check out the film’s trailer on the QuickTime movie trailer site.
Leave a comment ⇒
Please post the article topic & comment in our forums. No registration required.
Article Information
Comment on this Article Print this Article Email this Article Digg This
Contributor
Dennis Sellers
Dennis has been a newspaper editor/reporter (seven years) and teacher (seven years). He has over 4,000 magazine, newspaper and online articles to his credit. He has also covered the Mac and tech industries for over a decade for such online publications as MacCentral, MacMinute and now MacsimumNews.
