Movie Night: Herbie: Fully Loaded.

Review #411: Herbie: Fully Loaded.

Cast
Lindsay Lohan (Maggie Peyton), Justin Long (Kevin), Matt Dillon (Trip Murphy), Michael Keaton (Ray Peyton, Sr), Breckin Meyer (Ray Peyton, Jr), Cheryl Hines (Sally), Jimmi Simpson (Crash), and Jill Ritchie (Charisma) Directed by Angela Robinson.

Review
I had put this film on the back burner for a while, trying to find some sort of reason to watch it, or an excuse not to watch it. And then I couldn't find a excuse not to watch it, so to get it out of my head and to also pass the time (or waste, which ever word you per fer), I decided to watch and review it. And...it's exactly what I thought it would be despite my childhood memories of it. I watched this occasionally years before I reviewed films, and the film had a quirky quality to it, but as I realize years later, this is a film that will probably connect with younger audiences, but it won't really connect with older (and sometimes but not always wiser) audiences. Lohan (who I last reviewed in #204 - Freaky Friday) isn't bad, though I do wonder how Justin Long keeps popping up here (Planet 51, Galaxy Quest, DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Live Free or Die Hard), Dillon seems to ham it up playing the "villain", while Michael Keaton reminds me that even former Batmans need work. But in some ways, this film isn't helped or hurt by acting, it manages to be hurt by the level of absurdity, which I assume pleases the younger crowd. But my main questions throughout all of the film were this: Is Herbie...possessed? (And in that case would we need a car exorcist?) Is he alive? Does he eat? And why does it seem that he is a sentient being? Does he really need a driver at all? Why did he fall so far from fame? We do see a montage in the beginning, but it doesn't exactly explain why, it just shows us the earlier films were probably better than this. This is a mediocre film that tries hard to please some, and it that sense it works, but it'll baffle others.

Overall, I give it 6 out of 10 stars.