The Dukes of Hazzard

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Release Date:
August 5, 2005

Original Story Synopsis:

The famous TV show about two young men (Bo and Luke Duke), their beautiful cousin (Daisy), and their moonshine running uncle Jesse is finally coming to the big screen.

Movie-Pix Best Guess:

The previews for this film don't look that impressive. Sure, it's got Jessica Simpson in the famous "Daisy Dukes" shorts, but with Seann William Scott & Johnny Knoxville playing Bo and Luke it looks like it's headed for a cornball comedy.

This may be one bad situation that even the General Lee can't get them out of.

It's been a long time since most people have seen the original television show, but you could see just how bad this was going to be from a mile away. The TV show is such an icon, that if you don't do it just right, then everyone's going to hate it.
And everyone hated it.
Bo (Seann William Scott) and Luke (Johnny Knoxville) just aren’t the same two loveable country boys from the series. They’re more modern and pandering to today’s audience. They’re really a couple of dirtbags.
The rest of the cast is fairly awkward as well. Willie Nelson does a horrendous job of acting as Uncle Jesse. Jessica Simpson looks good playing Daisy Duke, but you just can’t get over her moronic TV personae while watching her.
As a matter of fact, the entire film is filled with big-named actors that are more distracting than helpful to the overall effect.
Even the original Cooter (Ben Jones) from the original show was making a publicity tour telling people not to see it because it was an embarrassment to the TV show.
And he was right.
But then something happened. The film was completely turned around by the character that you’d least expect, The General Lee.
When you first see the famous automobile it’s not quite what you remembered. It’s dirty, rusty and more than a little beat up. But the one thing that remains is the heart and soul.
That is until Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane (M.C. Gainey) gets hold of it, destroying the engine, bending the frame, breaking the windows and leaving a dead skunk in the backseat.
Boss Hogg (Burt Reynolds) doesn’t want Bo defending his racing title. He is so set on stopping the Duke boys that he’s brought back the famous homegrown NASCAR driver Billy Prickett (James Roday) to win the race.
This infuriates the Dukes, making them even more determined to win the race and discover what Boss Hogg is really up to.
There’s only one person that can put the General back on the road quick enough, and that’s Cooter (David Koechmer).

Movie-Pix Hit or Miss

Rated PG-13

~These are not the Dukes you're looking for~

When the boys get the car back, it’s the General Lee we’ve all come to know and love. The bright orange color is back, the doors are welded shut, and the confederate flag is on the roof.
They deal with the symbolism of the flag while they are stuck in traffic heading into Atlanta. It’s a good scene where everybody passing them shouts their differing opinions at the clueless Dukes who have no idea anything was painted on the roof.
Most of the time car chases are simplistic overblown time wasters that do little to advance the story and have become nothing more than a cliché device to entertain the simplest of minds.
The strange thing is that the car chases in this film were amazing. There wasn’t anything novel or unique about the chases, but seeing the General Lee causing havoc in a major city was unbelievably fun.
Whether it brought back memories of the original show, or if its simplicity was refreshing compared to today’s over-the-top car chases it doesn’t really matter. At that precise moment the entire film turned from a bad imitation into a movie about having fun and enjoying the absurdity.
Once you are able to release the images of the past, then the rest is entertaining. The Duke boys must find a way to stop Boss Hogg’s plans, and you know there’s going to be more delightful car chases to come.
All along the plan was for the entire town to become distracted by the race, fawning over Billy and the actions of the Dukes, while Rosco heads into the Hazzard county courthouse to get the zoning laws changed to allow strip mining. The rest of the town will be unaware of his actions and there will be no opposition.
Once the Dukes figure out what’s going on, Bo needs to win the race and get the townsfolk to the courthouse on time.
It’s obvious how everything’s going to turn out, but even with that knowledge it’s still great to watch. So if you can sever your connection with the original and turn off your brain for a little while you’ll enjoy the ride. But if you can’t do that then you’re better off watching something else.

Best Guess Results:

If you go into this film expecting it to be like the original than you are just going to be disappointed.

If you can throw away all your pre conceived notions, check your brain at the door and just sit back and relax, you'll have a much better time.

It's fluff. It's filler. It's fun.