The Love Bug
Acceptable with guidance. Age: 7+. A Catholic review of this movie for parents.
Our review
Jim is a race car driver who gets a little white car named Herbie. Herbie can think and feel, and he helps Jim win races. When Jim stops trusting Herbie, he learns he was wrong, and Herbie wins the big race. It is a silly, fast car comedy with a happy wedding at the end, but it leans on old jokes about Asian people and about getting drunk. The one age is 7, set by Common Sense Media (7+); the MPAA says G and no Catholic classification was found.
For parents
One age: 7, set by Common Sense Media (7+). The MPAA rating is G and we found no Catholic classification. Common Sense Media flags dated stereotypes of Asian Americans speaking broken English, a mechanic's comic fake 'Tibetan wisdom', a car made 'drunk' on Irish coffee, smoking, a joke about hippies being high, and a scene where Herbie hangs off the Golden Gate Bridge like someone about to take his life. That last scene may need a calm word with sensitive kids. Children and Media Australia adds that Jim beats Herbie with a shovel in anger, Thorndyke bumps Herbie off the road with Jim, Carole and Tennessee inside, and a diner patron points the couple to a 'make out' spot, Seabreeze Point, where they kiss. It calls the film best suited to children over 6. The car being alive is plain fantasy. Talk about it: Why did Jim owe Herbie loyalty? Was Thorndyke's cheating worth it? Why is it unkind to mock people for how they talk?