Plot
Maggie Peyton, the new owner of Number 53 - the free-wheelin' Volkswagen bug with a mind of its own - puts the car through its paces on the road to becoming a NASCAR competitor.
Release Year: 2005
Rating: 4.7/10 (18,976 voted)
Critic's Score: 47/100
Director:
Angela Robinson
Stars: Lindsay Lohan, Michael Keaton, Cheryl Hines
Storyline Maggie Peyton is the new owner of Number 53--the free wheelin' Volkswagen bug with a mind of its own; she puts the car through its paces on the road to becoming a NASCAR competitor. As a third generation member of a NASCAR family, racing is in Maggie Peyton's blood, but she is forbidden from pursuing her dream by her overprotective father, Ray Peyton, Sr. When Ray Sr. offers Maggie a car as a college graduation present, he takes her to a junkyard to choose one from an assortment of very used cars. Maggie has her eye on an old Nissan, but a certain rusty, banged up '63 VW Bug seems to be clamoring for her attention. To her surprise, Maggie leaves the lot with Herbie. As she prepares to leave town for a position with ESPN News, Maggie discovers that Herbie has a mind of his own--and an alternate route for her future.
Writers: Thomas Lennon, Robert Ben Garant
Cast: Lindsay Lohan
-
Maggie Peyton
Michael Keaton
-
Ray Peyton Sr.
Matt Dillon
-
Trip Murphy
Breckin Meyer
-
Ray Peyton Jr.
Justin Long
-
Kevin
Cheryl Hines
-
Sally
Jimmi Simpson
-
Crash
Jill Ritchie
-
Charisma
Thomas Lennon
-
Larry Murphy
Jeremy Roberts
-
Crazy Dave
E.E. Bell
-
Beeman
Peter Pasco
-
Juan Hernandez
Mario Larraza
-
Miguel Hernandez
Patrick Cranshaw
-
Jimmy D.
Scoot McNairy
-
Augie
Opening Weekend: $12,709,221
(USA)
(26 June 2005)
(3521 Screens)
Gross: $66,002,004
(USA)
(9 October 2005)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia:
Director Angela Robinson said in the commentary that she purposely left hidden crew equipment and cheap camera tricks in the film to give Herbie fans something to look for that was fun, and also just to simply aggravate her editor, who practically begged her to fix the problems before the film was released.
Goofs:
Factual errors:
During the NASCAR race, when Herbie starts leaking oil by the cylinder head, the team gets the spare part from a New Beetle. The Volkswagen Type 1 has an air-cooled 4-cylinder flat engine. The New Beetle has an liquid-cooled line-4 engine.
Quotes: Maggie Peyton:
[reading the note in Herbie's glove box]
"Please take care of Herbie. Whatever your problems, he will help you solve them." Great, a fortune cookie on wheels.
User Review
Captured the Spirit of the Original Movies -- Loved It!
Rating: 10/10
First of all, let me say that I'm a 41 year old man who saw all of the
original Love Bug movies with my mom growing up in Chicago.
This movie is an instant classic! It captured the fun spirit of the
original moves--I felt like very little time had passed and the same
magic was present in this movie. It's was fun, zany, cute, and
endearing.
My nine year old daughter and I laughed and cheered through the whole
thing. It's a solid 'A' rating and 5/5 stars in both of our eyes. We
couldn't stop talking about how good it was after leaving the theater.
The acting wouldn't win an Oscar but was more than adequate for a kids'
movie.
The story was well written. It did a great job bridging the past to the
current time-frame. It was also pretty original and employed modern
racing car themes like monster trucks and NASCAR.
I don't understand why the general public and professional critics are
rating it so low. It's a kids' movie and likewise one has to have the
correct mind-set when viewing it. I was swept away from the beginning
and it kept me engaged. So many other movies these days have various
flaws that keep coming to mind when you watch them; this movie was just
fine.
Go see this movie with your kids. It's refreshingly clean and a blast!
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