Herbie and Her

The Walt Disney Company has been reworking its old successes with persistent regularity. In fact, young actress Lindsay Lohan owes the core of her popularity to "The Parent Trap" (1998), wherein she replaced Hayley Mills and Hayley Mills, plus "Freaky Friday" (2003), subbing for Jodie Foster and Barbara Harris. Currently in theatres, "Herbie: Fully Loaded," a retread of "The Love Bug" (1968), has Lindsay channeling Dean Jones.

The latest Herbie film may be the end of Disney's Lohan era, as press reports of her becoming a public relations nightmare have been plastered in the media. Not quite 19, Lindsay's unflattering bleached blonde hair and increasingly haggard appearance are cause to wonder if she's making poor life choices and/or prepping to star in "The Brett Butler Story."

I hate to see talent spin out of control, but she's at a career crossroads. L. Lo only has to look at her parts to see how replaceable she is.

"Herbie: Fully Loaded" returns the magical Volkswagen Beetle to his heroic luminance and slapstick racing hijinks, alongside Michael Keaton and Matt Dillon, who must be resurrecting Buddy Hackett and David Tomlinson, or, maybe, they're Michele Lee and Joe Flynn. Does it matter?

Nope. We go to see Herbie, nutty #53 -- and, as always, he's playing himself.

The Herbie Filmography:

"The Love Bug" (1968)

"Herbie Rides Again" (1974)

"Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo" (1977)

"Herbie Goes Bananas" (1980)

"The Love Bug Goes Condoms" (1983)

"Herbie Gets His Grease Gun" (1986)

"Beetle Juice: Herbie Gets Gassed" (1991)

"Batmobile and Herbie" (1995)

"Herbie Brockovich" (2000)

"The Lord of the Bearing Rings: The Fellowship of the Rods and Pistons" (2001)

"Herbie Pitstopper and the Prisoner of Azkaban" (2003)

"Alien VW Predator" (2004)

"Herbie: Fully Lohan" (2005)

"Queer Eye for the Straight Shift" (2006)

"The Da Vinci Code II: The Louvre Bug" (2007)