Director Report Card: Peyton Reed (1997)

2. The Love Bug

I feel like calling the 1995 television version of “The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes” a “success” would be really overstating it. However, the Disney overlords must have been pleased with it. Two years later, Peyton Reed would be assigned another reboot of a classic Disney property to air as part of the Wonderful World of Disney TV movie series. This time, Reed would be handed the keys to the Herbie, the Love Bug franchise, which was hugely popular when new – the first was the third highest grossing film of 1968 – but had been dormant for 15 years. Once again, I don't think calling this obscure television movie a “success” is fitting but it at least got a VHS release.

While sharing many similarities with the original film's plot, 1997's “The Love Bug” is not a remake but actually a sequel. Herbie, the magical Volkswagen Bug with a personality all its own, has fallen into the hands of vain race car driver Simon Moore III. Disgusted with the car's malfunctions, he sends it to the scrapyard. There, mechanic Hank Cooper and his artsy-fartsy friend Roddy pick Herbie for a junkyard race. Revitalized by his new driver, the Love Bug suddenly shifts back into high gear. Noticing this success, Moore commissions Herbie's original creator to build an evil counterpart to the Love Bug. Soon, Herbie and the Horace the Hate Bug are facing off in a race. Hank, Roddy, and auto-magazine reporter – and Hank's ex-girlfriend – Alex are behind the wheel.

Once again, one assumes that a made-for-TV movie-of-the-week probably didn't afford Peyton Reed much of a chance to stretch his skills as a director. However, I must say that Reed's “Love Bug” does look a lot better than his “The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes.” When the Hate Bug is introduced, there's cool shot of the car silhouetted against some lights as it rolls out. Its next introductary scene also features some cool lightning effects, bouncing off the shiny black hull. Herbie's origin story is depicted in black-and-white in a way that seems to recall classic sci-fi/monster movies of the forties and fifties. Moments like these show that Reed was, perhaps, a little better than the humble television material he was given at this point.

Despite these interesting touches, this “Love Bug” is still a bit of a snore. Compared to the zippy pacing of Reed's last movie, “The Love Bug” moves so slowly. The film treats Herbie with an almost mythic importance. Much of the dialogue is devoted to talking about how magical this car is. Midway through the film, Herbie actually dies, being beaten into wreckage by the Hate Bug. (The actual violence is kept off-screen, hopefully keeping the real young kids from being further traumatized.) He gets a funeral and everything. Herbie is then resurrected with the help of Dean Jones' original protagonist. These scenes have a maudlin, even solemn tone to them that totally kills any energy the already sluggish movie had up to that point. This “Love Bug” never recovers even with the action packed last third that follows.

There are other examples of how weirdly invested Reed's “Love Bug” is in the Herbie character. None of the previous “Love Bug” media felt it necessary to provide an origin for the magical Volkswagen. The 1997 film, meanwhile, gives Herbie a comic book style origin story. He was built after World War II by a German scientist brought to America by the government, mistaking his invention of “the people's car” for a car that was actually a person. (One hopes the movie's scientist wasn't a Nazi.) Despite assuming that creating a car with a mind was impossible, Dr. Stumpfel succeeded when a picture of late wife fell in with the metal oar used to create Herbie... So, yes, Herbie the Love Bug was built by an ex-pat German scientist and owes his magical abilities to being possessed by a dead woman's soul. Mull that information over for a while.

To go along with his new comic book style origin, the 1997 “Love Bug” also gives Herbie a comic book style archenemy. While I doubt Walt would've approved of such a thing, giving the Love Bug an evil counterpart only seems natural. Horace the Hate Bug, on a surface level, is a funny enough sight gag. An all black chrome Bug who can shoot lasers from its front bumper and toss grenades from its muffler is an amusing concept. However, Horace doesn't get as much personality as Herbie. Instead of honking expressively, he just growls and rumbles threateningly. So the idea is fun but not developed into anything deeper. I can't believe I'm complaining about a car not having enough personality... I'm just saying, “The Car” did it better.

While no one would ever expect a “Love Bug” movie to be comparable to “Gone in 60 Seconds” or “Dirty Larry, Crazy Mary,” this is technically a racing film. And, you know, the stunts here are about as good as you could expect from a television film. The last act even features a pretty cool moment where Herbie is cut in two, so we have two halves of the Volkswagen racing up the mountain road. A subplot about a rich car designer also features some oddball custom cars that look like spaceships or giant sharks. However, Reed's film also employs some CGI effects. Which have aged about as well as you'd expect. Herbie pitching a wheelie or the ultimate fate of Horace the Hate Bug look embarrassingly rubbery.

For me and people like me, this “Love Bug” is most interesting because of its star. That's right, the star of “Evil Dead” appeared in a Disney movie. (A couple of them, actually.) Bruce Campbell had a number of television gigs at the time – reoccurring guest roles on “Hercules,” “Xena,” and “Ellen” being the most prominent – so this was actually totally within his wheelhouse. Bruce is actually perfectly suited to the kind of wholesome hero you'd expect to see in a Disney movie. He has that old fashion movie star look after all and knows his way around gee-shucks, wholesome dialogue. While Campbell can't truly bring the movie alive, it is nice to seem how versatile his acting abilities can be. He does have decent chemistry with Alexandra Wentworth as Alex.

There are, in fact, a surprising number of recognizable names and faces in “The Love Bug.” In an oddball coincidences, the film features two cast members that would later co-star in Stephen Sommers' “The Mummy,” in roles almost the opposite of what they play here. Kevin J. O'Connor is the wacky, comic relief sidekick, playing an amusingly spacey artist type that is largely out-of-place in the world of racing. (He also wears a Superchunk t-shirt.) John Hannah, meanwhile, appears as a sniveling villain and enjoys hamming it up as such a vein and obnoxious character. Clarence Williams III has one or two good lines as the owner of the garage, especially when starting the race at the film's end. Mickey Dolenz shows up as the eccentric custom car designer, never truly defining his part but adding some quirky energy to the movie.

If its Letterboxd reviews are anything to go by, 1997's “The Love Bug” is not well regarded by Herbie devotees. (Yes, such people exist.) It's hard for me to imagine any human being getting passionate about a movie like this, that lacks so much energy and produces so little emotion in the viewer. If “The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes” was at least mildly amusing, Peyton Reed's second “Wonderful World of Disney” entry is exactly the lackluster kind of made-for-TV entertainment you'd expect from that description. But would I guess I would rather watch it again than “Herbie: Fully Reloaded,” if only because I'd rather watch beloved character actors slum it in a weird family flick than watch Lindsay Lohan's digitally decreased bust line play second fiddle to a CGI car. [Grade: C-]