La Coccinelle à Monte-Carlo

When you think about Herbie Goes To Monte Carlo raises some interesting philosophical questions. Such as how is the sex of a car determined? Are here certain part variations as there are with animals or is the sex determined by the owner?

You won't get the answer to these questions, but with Dean Jones as racing driver Jim Douglas back at the steering wheel you will get a reasonably fun movie from the Disney Studio. This is the third Herbie film from the Magic Kingdom and it lives up to the standard created by the first one.

Jones after giving the car over to the tender care of Helen Hayes in the second film is back at the wheel, this time with Don Knotts instead of Buddy Hackett as his mechanic. Though I like Knotts very much as a performer, something was definitely missing without Buddy Hackett in the film. You'd have to have seen the first to appreciate it, but Hackett was the first to discover the true essence of Herbie, the Volkwagen with a soul.

Dean and Don have several problems to overcome. The first is a pair of inept jewel thieves who nearly get themselves caught even with all the museum layout and security systems information. To avoid capture Bernard Fox and Roy Kinnear dump one very large diamond into Herbie's gas tank before the Grand Prix race from Paris to Monte Carlo. The second is an officious German driver who apparently well remembers that Volkswagen's were not vehicles of sport from the Third Reich. Eric Braeden is one of those Germans you just love to hate.

The final problem is Herbie who takes one look at the lines on the car Julie Sommars is driving and guess what, her car has a soul as well. I guess you needed a handsome, devilish may car, rogue like Herbie to bring it out. He also of course brings Julie and Dean together, though I do have to wonder what happened with Michele Lee from the original film.

Nice location scenery of France, the countryside and the metropolitan areas of Paris and Monte Carlo definitely help one enjoy this film even if you're not a devoted fan of the soulful Herbie.

I have been a huge fan of Herbie. The love bug is one of my favorite Disney movies of all time its I would over and over again. When I heard about its sequels I thought they where not going to be as good as the first one well I was wrong. While Herbie rides again and Herbie goes to Monte Carlo are very good in my book. Herbie goes bananas is by far the weakest in the series depited having some good moments in it. But I like this film a lot while its not as good as the first one I still its a great film for all ages. Scenes in this film are beautiful being filmed in France which is a beautiful country to visit.

Overall another great film Herbie goes to Monte Carlo is one of the better sequels I have seen

8/10

Dean Jones ("Jim") returns to the driving seat for this third instalment of the adventures of "Herbie" and though more akin to the daftness of the first story, this is a bit of struggle to wade through. After twelve years since their last race, they return to take part in the world renowned Monte Carlo Rally. What they don't know, though, is that "Quincey" (Roy Kinnear) and his mate "Max" (Bernard Fox) have stashed some gems in the gas tank. Obviously, they are going to stop at nothing to get them back. To further complicate matters, "Herbie" has taken a bit of a shine to the car driven by "Diane" (Julie Sommars) just as "Jim" has fallen for her - with neither of them exactly hitting it off. Can they thwart the jewel thieves and find true love before the final race down the Parisian Champs-Élysées? Jacques Marin steals his scenes as the double-dealing police inspector struggling to comprehend what appears to be unfolding in front of him, and there are plenty of standard car chase and "Herbie" antics to enjoy - but I think it's safe to say we've seen it all before and this story gets more and more silly and contrived as it meanders along for an overlong 1¾ hours of dodgy French accents. It's watchable, but there's way too much dialogue (especially from sidekick "Wheely" (Don Knotts) and the whole thing isn't really very memorable.

Herbie goes to Monte Carlo is my first favorite "Herbie" film. My favorite scenes were: The scene when the diamond thieves are chasing Herbie through the French country side and my other favorite scene was when Dean Jones and Don Knotts got into a fight with the diamond thieves. The whole movie is funny but I thought those were the funniest scenes. Don Knotts is hilarious as usual, just like on the "Andy Griffith" show.

A cute scene I liked was when Herbie was taking a shower from the splashing water of a big fountain.

It has been twelve years since Jim Douglas last won a race; in fact, it has been twelve years since he last drove a race but he has selected the prodigious France-Monte Carlo race to make their come back. Being greeted with laughter is a problem they can overcome but when Herbie falls in love with a rival car it means that he is distracted and more interesting in impressing her than giving his all. Mind you, even if they manage to get over that problem Jim and Wheely don't even know about the stolen diamond in their fuel tank or the international thieves chasing them to get it back.

Herbie films have never been about high production standards, character or plot and this entry in the series is no exception. The plot mixes one thread about a jewel robbery and another about romance. The former is the more enjoyable strand but it doesn't do enough to get the most out of it because it focuses more on the romance side of things. In regards Herbie, this at least provides some scenes that kids will find funny with the two cars, however it also brings tiresome bits between Douglas and Diane Darcy that aren't fun at all. It all does what you expect it to in all regards and there isn't anything special here but most of it is amusing and inoffensive enough for adults to watch while also being broad, visual and silly enough to keep children content.

Dean Jones is happy to mug along as usual and he does it well enough to fit the mood of the film; likewise Knotts pulls faces and gurns as much as he possibly can. Sommars is really rather annoying and has as little character as her character's ugly and charisma-lacking car. Herbie is amusing as ever and the film does well to draw a character out of the car without resorting to the cheap effects used by the modern entry.

Overall this is not a great film but it is an enjoyable kids movie and should be viewed as such. It is delivered with consistent good humour even if it has no surprises or laughs to really speak of. Adults might get bored of it easily but are unlikely to be annoyed by it, while children should be amused and distracted by the inoffensive antics.