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Film

Now in theaters: What you expect is what you get

By STEVE PERSALL
Published June 23, 2005

The world's most famous Volkswagen returns in Herbie: Fully Loaded (G), and 37 years of celebrity haven't changed him much. Herbie still has a mind of his own to compensate for the stupid humans surrounding him, and he acts more convincingly than any of them.

Herbie's just moments away from junkyard demolition when he's purchased by Maggie Peyton (Lindsay Lohan). Maggie's family has a long racing tradition, although her father (Michael Keaton) won't allow her to race competitively. But a few laps behind the VW bug's steering wheel convince Maggie that Herbie can compete on the NASCAR circuit. Anyone who watched Herbie's first four movies, the short-lived sitcom or the made-for TV movie would be foolish to bet against them.

The best thing that can be said about Herbie: Fully Loaded is that it's completely safe for family consumption. Director Angela Robinson (D.E.B.S.) so respects the car's squeaky-clean reputation that her movie becomes creaky clean. There's a place in the world for old-fashioned movies such as this, and it's called home video.

Lohan feigns perky interest in what should be her last role as the poster child for Disney remakes. Keaton plays a low-key father figure again, counterbalanced by Matt Dillon's exaggerated turn as NASCAR champion Trip Murphy, the film's designated Herbie hater. The car outperforms them all, with its personality slightly enhanced by computer-generated bumper smiles and headlight eyelids: not too impressive to modern children who've seen better special effects.

NASCAR fans are cautioned that their heroes don't get any screen time until the final 15 minutes, when drivers Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Jarrett do amateurish double takes at Herbie's racetrack antics. They should get a kick out of seeing bad boy Tony Stewart get a dose of the bug's powers, though.

Herbie: Fully Loaded jumped the gun on its competitors by debuting Wednesday, the day it received a C- grade in the Times.

[Last modified June 22, 2005, 10:45:07]