The Love Bug

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

This is one of my favorite childhood movies. It has hearth, charm, humor and nostalgic value. I think I never used the phrase “They do not make movie like this anymore” on my Metacritic reviews but it is fitting here. It is a Walt Disney comedy film and the first movie starting Herbie. Herbie is a Volkswagen Beetle with the number 53 and a racing car too. His secret is that he is alive and has a mind and personality. I think it is a modern fairy tale an as much for children as for adults as my parents did also enjoy the movies. The story starts with the unsuccessful and out of luck race driver Jim Douglas searching for a new car. At a car shop he defends a Volkswagen Beetle from verbal abuse by the shop owner and is surprised when the car seems following him home. He buys the car and this is the beginning **** story as the two are a match made in (racing) heaven. The story is hugely entertaining, immersive and enjoyable. It manages to have a lot of good humor and also handle a bit of serious issues on the way without one harming the others. I repeat that it is a Disney fairy tale and one of its best of its time. Alone the humor and characters are enough to convince many people. It is no wonder that it started a successful franchise and many people still recognize the beetle with the 53 ;-). Another part of the charm is the cast. Everyone works perfect in this regard. Lets start with the star of the movie. Of cause I am speaking of Herbie (Who else ;-). They manged to give him character and charm without aid of a human face, mimic or other human expressions. This alone is magnificent and won me easily over as child and still works as adult. I will not deny that I am heavily influenced by childhood nostalgia but think it is still great. For the human actors we have Dean Jones as Jim Douglas. He works great and always delivered his role. Then the hidden star of the movie is Buddy Hackett as Tennessee Steinmetz. He is so great in everything be it comic relief, a maser mechanic and a wise men who learned a lot in life. David Tomlinson is such a great antagonist. He is still high up in my love to hate category. His acting skills were amazing in all his roles and I consider him a legend that is far to less acknowledged. Then there is Michele Lee as Carole Bennet. She too is far to less acknowledged and delivers an awesome performance. Special praise for Benson Fong who has less screen time but impressed me really well. In total we have a great cast that fully delivers and enhance the movie. Overall this movie has a great story delivered by a fitting cast that does an amazing performance for its genre. The humor and charm rounds this up. It was one of my childhood favorites and I rewatched it countless times. It is a classic of its time and I fully recommend it for the inner child.