Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005)
I honestly don’t know if I have ever watched a Herbie movie before, I am pretty sure I watched them with my mom when I was very little. I know that Herbie is a VW Beetle and he is alive, that’s about all I really remember. The final instalment of the Swanson trilogy, one of only three movies Ron Swanson (a character from Parks and Recreation) has seen. The first two being The Bridge on the River Kwai and Patton. Of all the surprises in and around this movie, the biggest one is how have I not watched it already? It’s probably because I was in my 20’s when it was released and it’s a kids movie. I must say it is an un-expectedly delightful movie. It is a paint by numbers type of a story, but it is pretty well put together for what it is and its backed by a pretty decent cast from top to bottom. Its goofy and over the top but that’s what a Herbie movie is supposed to be so having Tomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant (from Reno 911) was probably a pretty great idea. It may not be a career highlight for the cast, and it may have been poorly received by damn near everyone, but I liked it…
The movie opens with a montage of old Herbie clips and his eventual demise as he is brought to a junkyard. It sets up the stupidly goofiness that your about to endure for the next hour and a half. The story follows the Payton family of Ray Sr. Ray Jr. and Maggie played by Michael Keaton, Breckin Meyer, and Lindsay Lohan. Maggie is the daughter in a long line of NASCAR drivers from her Grandpa down to her brother Ray Jr. She has dreams of being the first woman to win the NASCAR Nextel Cup (which currently goes by the Monster Energy Cup Series and still has not been won by a woman), but her father won’t let her race after a street racing accident. She acquires Herbie as a college graduation present from her father. She starts to wonder what is up with the car when she takes it to see her old friend Kevin where, after they both take shots at Herbie, they wind up in an altercation with our villain. The Villain is a cocky douche bag champion car driver named Trip Murphy played by Matt Dillon, if you have ever seen a movie involving racing, you know the type. His Brother Larry played by Tomas Lennon and his cohort Crash played by Jimmi Simpson are two of the best people you could ask for in a supporting cast member in a silly comedy and they fill their parts well here. Herbie himself is a bit of a jealous douche himself, constantly offended of anyone critical of his appearance and always trying to prove himself. I was surprised how much personality Herbie actually had, I couldn’t help but feel for him.
Everything else plays out exactly as you would expect, if you can’t figure out what happens than you might just be one of the few who enjoys this film (I don’t mind predictable goofy comedy, I can’t stand predictable drama, what do you do). The movie is what it is, and for what it is it was really well done in my opinion. In good consciousness I could not recommend everyone should watch Herbie Fully Loaded but also at the same time I have to recognize that it is not a movie made for everyone. It’s a heartwarming and wholesome movie. If you like goofy shit and weed or if you have daughters, they might like it?