The Love Bug (1997)


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COSTAR SITES:

Bruce Campbell Online

Kevin J. O'Connor

 John Hannah plays:  Simon Moore III, race-car-driving villain
 
Rental store advertisement - please click to enlarge
Summary:  This is a hokey, silly new addition to the traditionally hokey and silly Love Bug series about Herbie, the VW Beetle with a penchant for matchmaking.  The King of "B" Movies, ARMY OF DARKNESS' Bruce Campbell, stars in the movie, and the cast includes The Monkees' Micky Dolenz and "THE MOD SQUAD"'s Clarence Williams III, as well as THE MUMMY's Kevin J. O'Connor.  By now, it should be firmly established in your mind that this is not Shakespeare.  :)
Bruce Campbell is Hank, a mechanic who dreams of being a winning car racer.  Alexandra Wentworth plays his ex-girlfriend Alex, who is drawn to Herbie and eventually to Hank.  John Hannah plays Simon Moore III, a Scottish playboy racer and a bitter former owner of Herbie's.  Moore is jealous of Herbie's amazing racing abilities (which Herbie never shared with him!).  He creates an evil clone of Herbie, called Horace the Hate Bug, then challenges Hank and Herbie to a race.

My thoughts:  It was hokey.  It was silly.  It made me scream because it was so predictable.  But all in all, I really liked it.  I would definitely recommend THE LOVE BUG, just because it's a silly, entertaining little movie.  John Hannah's character was very convincingly evil (to the point where I hissed when he winked at Alex!) and very entertaining.  We do like to see him doing comedy, and the role of the villain was something I hadn't seen before.

The Love Bug News:  THE LOVE BUG is now available to rent in the United States.  Check your local retailer!  The rental ad is shown above (JH has second billing in very small print).


Last Update: 12 August 2001 by SRAH