Typical of the latest Toyota hybrids, the Highlander's hybridness is successfully seamless. Now say that sentence five times fast ...
I'm a big supporter of vehicles this size (Ford Escape, Saturn Vue, Honda CR-V, etc.), because they're more car than many owners of big-dog SUVs ever need. The Highlander is particularly nice because of its third row. (In a great example of Toyota's SUV overlap, however, even the new RAV4 has a third row ...)
With its aggressive but inoffensive stance, the Highlander looks good, in my opinion. Overall, this is a great car for a nonenthusiast who needs to haul people, and it's also a good platform for Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive. But it's not fun to drive. At all.