2009 Audi A5

What: Audi's all new midsize coupe

What's new: Everything; the A5 marks Audi's return to the midsize-coupe segment

What's hot: Body as sleek as Heidi Klum's, Iron Man headlights, intelligent and demure interior

What's not: Fast curves don't quite match the drive, extras are extra

Base price: $41,200

Hollywood is amusing from the behind the wheel of the new Audi A5. Ka-thunk the door behind you and all that is loud and colorful is immediately hushed, but still -- like a silent picture show.

On normally bustling Sunset Boulevard, traffic and pedestrians seem to tiptoe by -- though more than a few heads turn as the A5 passes. Pull into the parking lot of Trader Joe's and eyebrows rise, elbows nudge ribs, fingers point. Keep the windows up, you'll often be greeted by mouths forming appreciative smiles and soundless coos. Quite a feat in car savvy LA-LA-land.

The reason? The eyes have it. The A5's has headlight styling first seen on Iron Man's ride, Audi's flagship R8. Thin LED strips mounted just below the headlamps give off a cool, white glow, through sun or smog, day or night. Hit the turn signal, and the corresponding LED strip shuts off as the blinker comes on. It's a mesmerizing bit of design often noted by car cognoscenti and ignoranti alike.

The A5 has a body that matches those eyes as well. Not since the Audi 80 has the company had a two-door in the midsize category. What Audi's managed to pull off with its return to the segment is a rare feat among production cars. The A5 manages to look better as a production car than the Nuvolari concept upon which it was based.

R8 aside, no Audi in recent memory has been this evocative or curvalicious. Even the architectural TT, with all its careful arcs and radii, seems more a product of the protractor than the pen. Not so with the A5: Its full-length character line displays an artful freehand that flies in the face of all slab-sided A-series forebears.

The mark of well-designed car is whether such styling functions smoothly in the real world. Simply open the door of the A5 for the answer. Unlike most modern coupes, the A5 has surprisingly short doors. They make for easy ingress and egress in tight spaces, yet create no visual awkwardness in the overall proportions.

Inside, Audi carries on its tradition of classy, understated interiors. High-quality matte-black plastics are broken up with brushed-metallic accents and contrasted with pale-cream leather in our test vehicle. Some may find these treatments dark and severe, but there is no debating the quality feel of all the switches and knobs and the overall high level of execution.