Starring: Lindsay Lohan, Michael Keaton, Matt Dillon
Cert: U
Released: 12th August 2005

Herbie, the VW Beetle with a life of it's own, used to be a World-renowned racer until things started going wrong. Fast forward a couple decades and he now due for the scrap heap. Along comes Maggie (Lohan) who is the youngest in a long line of car racers who has been steered away from the circuit to a life of education and employment.
 Of course this causes conflict within her genetic desire for speed as well as conflict within her family; widowed father (Keaton) and consistently failing racer brother.

Can this unimposing little car do anything to help her and her family regain their love for one another and their pride in themselves?

Bleurgh! Sycophantic, condescending and lazy. I'll be the first to proudly declare that I'm not the target audience for this fare but I do have a hard time trying to imagine who would be.

Uninspiring, unimaginative and underplayed. The only jokes on offer come from the car as it's bumper and headlights pull another funny face or when one of the actors conveniently place themselves in a position to be slapped in the face or bum by a door or squirted with oil or exhaust fumes.

Lohan seems to spend all her time with her hands on her hips seeing how far she can thrust her boobs and squealing in disbelief. Keaton (who, once-upon-a-time, used to be a credible comedic actor) reads his lines and collects his money at the end of the day. Dillon is a saving grace as his vainglorious, arch-villain manages to steal every scene he's in. The rest of the cast is made up of 'oh look, it's him; he was in that other comedy film'.

To be fair to them, it's purely the material that offers nothing to work with, no life and no comedy. Even the car's stunts are missing something; it's like they've just been taken straight from the 80's films - see Herbie drive fast backwards, see Herbie drive along a narrow railing - where's the glimmer of originality?
Obviously this is a vehicle for Lohan's aspiring career (Herbie is cast as guest appearance) but with film making that just apes the scripts and technique of three decades ago she may run out of road before really getting going.

But would that be such a bad thing?