I noticed once or twice over the last week that my door handle seems to not work properly.  The handle itself will come away from the car, but the latch mechanism won't release the door.

Would this mean I need to put some type of lubricant on the latch plate. or something more nefarious?

Sorry for the stupid question, we're just mechanical nim-rods.

I'm not sure about your model year but in the '80s the door handles would break a yoke looking thing on the casting pivot on the inside . You could pull the handle but lever on the inside would not release. Sounds like that whats going on with yours.
   Rick Swafford(Grasshopper) could shed some light on this better than I can on these later water-cools

could it be moisture freezing the lock mechanism?
Just a thought...
KC

The handles are poop.

The lock cylinder components are poop.

If they are hanging up, not working properly, you need to get it checked out sooner than later.  If you wait too long, one day you will put the key in, turn it, pull it out, hear a pop, out will come the lock cylinder, and you will hear something metal falling inside the door, and then you have to try and figure out how you are gonna get the door open.  Seriously.  They are fairly commmon to fail.

I have rebuilt a bunch of handles, they are a pain, and every time is like the first time all over again. 

If it's anything like the door handle on my '96 Passat, there is a little roll pin that is apparently designed by the factory to work it's way out about every 1000 door openings!  At about halfway out, it will start giving trouble unlatching the door . . . and it will get worse in a hurry.

After replacing three door handles and repairing two of them twice (each) in a little over a year, I decided to break out some epoxy and "J.B.Weld" the pin in place.  It's worked like a charm ever since.  If I ever buy another new handle made like this one, I'll epoxy the pin in place before I install it the first time.