Herbie: Fully Loaded

Herbie, a Volkswagen Beetle with a mind of its own, is decommissioned and towed to a junkyard after losing several races. Maggie Peyton is the youngest member of the Peyton racing clan. Her father, Ray Peyton Sr., takes her to the junkyard to buy her a car as a college graduation present, and she chooses Herbie. Herbie then takes Maggie to her mechanic friend Kevin who agrees to take Herbie to a car show to buy parts. At the car show, as Maggie is about to abandon Herbie due to his unconventional behaviour, Herbie lets his horn run constantly, causing Maggie to disconnect it at the engine. Herbie takes this opportunity to squirt oil all over Maggie’s blue t-shirt, at that moment completely soiling it. As her blue t-shirt is now covered in oil, Maggie reluctantly decides to change clothes by disguising herself in a racing suit and helmet that Kevin finds in Herbie’s bonnet. She changes in the back of Herbie at the car show, with Kevin standing guard. Herbie is then able to trick Maggie into challenging NASCAR champion Trip Murphy to an impromptu race, which Herbie wins by a hair. Despite the loss of her blue t-shirt, Maggie forgives Herbie for having wrecked it, thrilled by her win. She tells Kevin who happily suggests that Maggie should race again, but Ray Sr. is concerned, having forbidden Maggie to race due to a street racing accident years ago. Trip becomes obsessed with Herbie and the mysterious driver and organizes a local racing competition to lure Herbie back for a rematch, which Maggie and Kevin enter. Herbie easily defeats the other cars and qualifies for the final match with Trip, but when Trip talks Maggie into racing for pink slips, Herbie becomes jealous over Maggie's desire to win Trip's stock car and intentionally loses the race. Maggie is publicly embarrassed, and Herbie is towed away, while both Kevin and Ray Sr. express their disappointment with Maggie over her respective actions. However, encouraged by her friend Charisma, Maggie decides to race professionally. She tries to buy Herbie back from Trip, but Trip has entered Herbie in a demolition derby. Desperate to save Herbie from destruction, Maggie goes to the derby, runs onto the field while the derby is in progress, quickly apologizes and pleads with Herbie to help her, and an overjoyed Herbie accepts her back as his driver; the two manage to escape destruction and win the derby. Meanwhile, the Peyton racing team may have to forfeit an upcoming NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race due to financial troubles and two crashes by the team's driver and Maggie's brother, Ray Peyton Jr. Ray Sr. refuses to let Maggie drive for the team, but Ray Jr. decides on his own that she will take his place and sends the Team Peyton crew to help her and Kevin prepare Herbie for the race. At the race track, Maggie and Herbie have a heart-to-heart conversation, while Trip ominously warns Maggie that the race will be dangerous. Herbie and Maggie start the race slowly, but they eventually catch up and begin passing the other cars before Maggie makes her first pit stop. Meanwhile, Ray Sr., who has been watching the race at home, decides to join the crowd in person. On the track again, Herbie is soon boxed in by some other cars, but Ray Sr. arrives at the track and encourages Maggie over the team radio, and Maggie escapes the trap by driving directly over Tony Stewart’s car in front of her, damaging Herbie's oil system. Maggie makes another pit stop and Kevin hurriedly extracts a replacement part from the yellow New Beetle, which Herbie has been eyeing amorously throughout the film, owned by Sally, one of Team Peyton's few remaining sponsors, though the jerry-rigged oil system is fragile. With the last few laps remaining, Maggie and Herbie catch up to Trip. Trip, bent on defeating Herbie once and for all, tries to damage Herbie by pushing him into the track wall when Maggie tries to pass him, but he is caught off guard and crashes into the wall when she slams on the brakes during his next attempt, resulting in him hitting Jeff Gordon. Herbie passes Trip's car, now upside down on the track, by climbing onto the fence above the wall. After landing back on the track, Maggie and Herbie win the race, and Maggie becomes the next Peyton to win a NASCAR race. Maggie is congratulated by her father and brother, and Trip is driven away in an ambulance as Maggie and Kevin kiss. The film ends with Ray speaking with Herbie and Sally's New Beetle (which is revealed to have a mind of its own as well), telling them not to stay out too long on their date as Herbie has another race coming up. ==Cast==

• Lindsay Lohan as Margaret "Maggie" C. Peyton, a college graduate who later becomes the new owner of Herbie. • Michael Keaton as Ray Peyton Sr., Maggie's father. • Matt Dillon as Trip Murphy, a NASCAR driver who wants to prevent Herbie from winning. He drives a Pontiac GTO, a Chevrolet Corvette, and a Chevrolet Monte Carlo that he uses in NASCAR, Maggie’s main rival. • Justin Long as Kevin, Maggie's love interest. • Breckin Meyer as Ray Peyton Jr., Maggie's older brother. • Cheryl Hines as Sally • Thomas Lennon as Larry Murphy, Trip's brother. • Jimmi Simpson as "Crash", Trip Murphy's tech assistant. • Jill Ritchie as Charisma • Jeremy Roberts as Dave "Crazy Dave" • Monica Manning as Monica Armstrong Director Angela Robinson stated in an interview that she attempted to have Dean Jones reprise his role as Jim Douglas for a cameo, but due to scheduling problems he was unable to do so. These circulated false rumors alleging Jones had filmed the cameo and the scene had been deleted. Several racing personalities appear in cameo roles as themselves, including UNH announcer Allen Bestwick, 1973 NASCAR champion Benny Parsons and ESPN broadcaster Stuart Scott. Various real-life NASCAR drivers and/or their cars from the 2004 racing season can also be seen, including Dale Jarrett, Dale Earnhardt Jr. (car only), Casey Mears (car only), Kasey Kahne, Jeremy Mayfield (car only), Tony Stewart, J. J. Yeley, Bobby Labonte (car only), Terry Labonte (car only), Brendan Gaughan, Mark Martin (car only), Ward Burton (car only), Carl Edwards (car only), Jimmy Spencer (car only), Mike Bliss (car only), Scott Wimmer (car only), Greg Biffle (car only), Jamie McMurray (car only), Rusty Wallace (car only), Brian Vickers, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch (car only), Elliott Sadler (car only), Matt Kenseth (car only), Michael Waltrip (car only), Ryan Newman (car only), Scott Riggs (car only), Boris Said, Joe Nemechek (car only), Bill Elliott (car only), Sterling Marlin (car only), Jeff Burton (car only), Ken Schrader (car only), Morgan Shepherd (car only), Jeff Fuller (car only), Bobby Hamilton Jr. (car only), Robby Gordon (car only), and Kevin Harvick (car only). ==Production and marketing==

In their 2011 screenwriting how-to book Writing Movies For Fun (And Profit), Robert Ben Garant & Thomas Lennon, two of the film's co-writers, explained their original starting idea for the Herbie remake: "We are both very big fans of the old The Love Bug movies... but the old Herbie movies are corny in a way you can't get away with today... We needed to put Herbie in a much more real world. Not some dopey, illogical, kids-movie world, with characters like the crotchety old junk lot owner twirling his mustache and swearing, 'I'm gonna get that little car if it's the last thing I ever do!!!' Kids hate that kind of stupid s*** as much as grown-ups do... We set it in a very realistically portrayed world of San Fernando Valley Street racing: a macho world, where an old, beat-up car would get laughed at -- then be totally respected when it won some races." and wrapped up later that same November. During the 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season, drivers Dale Jarrett and Scott Riggs ran special paint schemes to promote the film. The film was reported to include heavy uses of product placement. For example, Maggie Peyton is a former reporter for ESPN (owned by Disney) turned NASCAR driver. A huge billboard for Mid America Motorworks (an aftermarket parts supplier for classic Volkswagens and other vehicles) is seen in the background of the scene where Murphy attempts to sabotage Herbie. In addition, Volkswagen provided a Volkswagen Touareg and a Volkswagen New Beetle for use in certain scenes, General Motors also provided the 2005 Chevrolet Corvette and 2005 Pontiac GTO for use in race scenes as well. Various race cars in the Nextel Cup Series appear during the race at the end, with action sequences being filmed during the 2004 Target House 300 Busch Series race at California Speedway on September 4, 2004, and the 2004 Pop Secret 500 Cup Series race also at California Speedway on September 5, 2004. Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 8 car is seen briefly, but it has all the Budweiser logos removed and replaced with his signature to avoid advertising alcohol in a children's film. In addition, billboards can be seen in straightaway scenes, some with the NEXTEL logo on them. Also, in the scene where Maggie pretends to drive a stock car in the junkyard, Dominic Toretto's 1970 Dodge Charger from The Fast and the Furious can be seen among the cars. KITT from the classic Knight Rider series also makes a cameo in the newspaper during the opening sequence. ABC Family aired a making-of featurette titled Herbie: Fully Loaded and Retooled, hosted by Lohan, on June 21, 2005, to promote the film release. ==Reception==

Box office In its opening weekend, the film grossed $12,709,221 in 3,521 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking number four at the box office. By the end of its run, Herbie: Fully Loaded grossed $66,023,816 domestically and $78,123,000 internationally, totaling $144,146,816 worldwide. Critical response On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 40% based on 141 reviews, with an average rating of 5.3/10. The site's critics consensus states that "Herbie: Fully Loaded is a decent kids movie that is pretty undemanding for adult viewers." The film, along with Herbie Goes Bananas, which also scored a 40% rating, is the lowest rated entry in the franchise. On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 47 out of 100 based on 31 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade "A" on an A+ to F scale. Roger Ebert gave the film a two out of four stars, stating: "The movie is pretty cornball. Little kids would probably enjoy it, but their older brothers and sisters will be rolling their eyes, and their parents will be using their iPods." William Thomas of Empire gave the film a two out of five stars and said: "Every bit as good (and bad) as Herbie Goes Bananas; but the Love Bug deserves better performances." Accolades ==Soundtrack==

}} The soundtrack album was released on June 21, 2005. It includes Lohan's 2004 song "First", and remakes of classic songs by Hollywood Records artists including Aly & A.J., Caleigh Peters, Ingram Hill and Josh Kelley, and big names such as Lionel Richie and Mark McGrath. The album does not, however, contain any of Mark Mothersbaugh's original score for the film. Despite most of the songs' original recordings appearing in the film itself, the soundtrack contains remakes only on the album. For example, the Beach Boys' original recording of "Getcha Back" is used for the film's opening credits, but the Mark McGrath cover is featured on the soundtrack. The Girls Aloud single "Long Hot Summer" was planned to be included and put the British band into the American market, but was cut from the final film. • Lindsay Lohan – "First" • Mark McGrath – "Getcha Back" – The Beach Boys cover (1985) • Aly & AJ – "Walking on Sunshine" – Katrina and the Waves cover (1985) • Caleigh Peters – "Fun, Fun, Fun" – The Beach Boys cover (1964) • Pilot – "Magic" • Josh Gracin – "Working for the Weekend" – Loverboy cover (1981) • The Donnas – "Roll On Down the Highway" – Bachman–Turner Overdrive cover (1974) • The Mooney Suzuki – "Born to Be Wild" – Steppenwolf cover (1968) • Ingram Hill – "More Than a Feeling" – Boston cover (1976) • Rooney – "Metal Guru" – T. Rex cover (1972) • Josh Kelley – "You Are the Woman" – Firefall cover (1976) • Lionel Richie – "Hello" • Mavin – "Welcome to My World" • Black Smoke Organization – Herbie: Fully Loaded remix • Black Smoke Organization – "Herbie vs. NASCAR" ==See also==