The Dukes of Hazzard Movie Review:


Well, it looks like every redneck’s dreams have come true. The good ole boys are back.

I can’t begin to understand how the “Dukes of Hazzard” television phenomenon was ever started or how it was created. I just remember it was huge for its day and it is amazing how long it lasted. I mean all my friends had “Dukes of Hazzard” lunchboxes back then.

The rough story of the phenomenon is that two “slick and wide-eyed” moonshine delivery boys named Bo and Luke Duke (Seann William Scott and Johnny Knoxville) would out run and out smart the local law enforcement with their decked-out Dodge Charger they nicknamed “The General Lee”. The boys were also a pain in the side of corrupt businessman Boss Hogg (Burt Reynolds) who was always out-smarted by the fast-drivin’ boys. When the boys got into trouble they were always bailed out by their Uncle Jessie (Willie Nelson), super-mechanic Cooter (David Koechner) and the sexy Daisy Duke (Jessica Simpson).

In a lot of ways “Dukes of Hazzard” the TV series and the film has a lot in common with the “Smokey & the Bandit” films where a man and his slicked out car would out run and out smart some rather clueless and corrupt police. This seems even more evident with the making of the feature film. Actually if there was no Uncle Jessie and Daisy then it probably would have felt even more like a “Bandit” sequel. I was even more reminded of the “Bandit” films with the outtakes at the end of the film.

There are some good honest laughs especially when the “Dukes” leave Hazzard County and venture to Atlanta. I felt that Knoxville, Scott and Nelson were perfectly cast as the Dukes. They seem to be born to play these characters. I also liked a lot of the over the top car chases and stunt sequences. And I have to admit the voice-over and freeze-frame shots did bring back some memories.

Jessica Simpson, in her portrayal as Daisy, has a lot to learn about what is acting and what is parading. For me she came off as more of a peacock than an actress. I actually found newcomer Nikki Griffin who plays Katie Johnson as more refreshing.

Probably my biggest annoyance with the film was the portrayal of Burt Reynolds as Boss Hogg and M.C. Gainey as Rosco. These two guys come off as way to creepy and evil than their television counterparts. If I remember the TV series correctly I remember that the cops and Hogg were funnier than the Dukes. It just didn’t feel right.

The film is from the director responsible for other brainless comedy hits like “Super Troopers” and “Broken Lizard’s Club Dread” and this is evident with a lot of the goofier jokes and especially with the “campus police” and “pot-head” sequences.

I laughed a little and shook my head a lot but I still can’t understand why we needed a feature film on this.

So Says the Soothsayer



Dean Kish

Hollywood studios seem willing to plunder any material at all if they think they can make some money, and it's clearly not too difficult to buy a talented cast and crew if you're willing to pay enough. Because it's obvious that no one became involved with this film for artistic reasons.

Luke and Bo Duke (Knoxville and Scott) are cousins in rural Hazzard County, Georgia, a hotbed of corruption run by local "businessman" Boss Hogg (Reynolds) with the help of the sheriff (Gainey). The Dukes are a thorn in the side of these sleazeballs, running moonshine produced by Uncle Jesse (Nelson), while Duke babe Daisy (Simpson) helps however she can, usually by employing her curvy physique. Hogg's nefarious plot this time involves the annual championship road race and a strip-mining operation that will destroy the town. Send in the Dukes.

The 1970s TV series wasn't exactly highbrow, but it at least had a whiff of intelligence underneath the goofball antics. This film, on the other hand, seems to exist merely as an excuse to smash things up and get in brawls. Basically it's like a rural South edition of Jackass. But not as funny. And with much lazier performances. No one really looks like they're working here, although at least Scott injects energy whenever he's on screen, and his chemistry with Knoxville is somewhat engaging. Heffernan's deranged Sheev is believably nuts and palpably icky. But poor Simpson has nothing to do besides wiggle at the screen and strip down to skimpy shorts and bikinis--no acting required.

I should also admit that the car stunts are fairly spectacular in that overblown, just slightly too-big sort of way. And we can tell just how too-big they are in the credit sequence outtakes, which are easily the funniest thing about the film. And they're not that funny, really. But if you think it's a crime what the filmmakers have done to a cheesy favourite TV series (the Starsky & Hutch movie is a masterwork by comparison), just wait until you hear what Simpson does to These Boots Are Made For Walking.

Rich Cline

Making there way they only way they know how, Bo (William Scott) and Luke (Knoxville) Duke delivered moonshine around Hazzard County and were the thorn in the sides of Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane (Gainey) and Boss Hogg (Reynolds). When Boss Hogg takes the Duke farm after the sheriff plants a moonshine still in Uncle Jessie’s (Nelson), the good old boys go on the run and with the help of their cousin Daisy (Simpson), try find a way of getting the Duke farm back.

Hollywood’s obsession with remaking old TV shows for the big screen continues but can ‘The Dukes of Hazzard’ make that jump?

Nostalgia can be a funny thing. Anyone who grew up in the early 1980s will remember the adventures of Bo and Luke Duke as they tore through the county in the General Lee. Everybody wanted to be behind the wheel of that orange Dodge Charger as it made the most impossible jumps to escape Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane and his deputies. Every week the Dukes stopped another one of Boss Hogg’s profiteering schemes but ended up in one or two car chases along the way. The premise for the show was simple but it worked as light hearted, throwaway entertainment that filled the TV channels in the 80s. The problem is that this simple approach doesn’t work too well with modern audiences.

The big screen version of ‘The Dukes of Hazzard’ follows the formula of the TV show to the letter but the problem is that this doesn’t really offer the audience much in the way of plot. In fact the minute story, which is basically another of Boss Hogg’s money making schemes, is just a way of filling in the gaps between the chase sequences. This might have been all well and good in the 1980s but modern cinema audiences want more.

The essence of the show may well be captured perfectly but some of the casting lets the film down. By having two comedic actors in the roles of Bo and Luke doesn’t seem to work. While we are not expecting these to be Oscar winning roles, the casting of Johnny Knoxville and Seann William Scott just doesn’t seem right. You can’t really take ever of them seriously, not even as womanising, trouble causing moonshine smugglers because they basically playing themselves not the characters. M. C. Gainey also doesn’t capture the essence of bungling Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane and just comes across as more of a thug-like henchman. Burt Reynolds fairs a little better as the nefarious Boss Hogg with the white suit really suiting him but he doesn’t have enough screen time to make as big an impact as the character should have. The character that really captures the essence of the show is Daisy Duke, played by the singer turned actress Jessica Simpson in her first big screen role. She is stunningly beautiful and the character plays on this to get what she wants.

With only the extremely well choreographed car chases making the film watchable, ‘The Dukes of Hazzard’ is another TV to movie adaptation that fails to impress. This is probably because the show itself wasn’t that great in the first place and the simple premise of the show just isn’t enough to engage modern more story hungry audiences. Maybe it’s time those good old boys got real jobs and grew up.

Jamie Kelwick

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