Aug. 22, 2005
2005, 1 hr 45 min., Rated PG-13 for sexual content, crude and drug-related humor, language and comic action violence. Dir: Jay Chandrasekhar. Cast: Johnny Knoxville (Luke Duke), Seann William Scott (Bo Duke), Jessica Simpson (Daisy Duke), Burt Reynolds (Boss Hogg), Willie Nelson (Uncle Jesse), David Koechner (Cooter), Lynda Carter (Pauline), M.C. Gainey (Rosco P. Coltrane), James Roday (Billy Prickett), Michael Weston (Deputy Enos Strate), Kevin Heffernan (Sheev), Joe Don Baker (Governor Jim Applewhite).
You know the drill. They’re just good ol’ boys, never meanin’ no harm. Maybe in the TV version, sure, but in The Dukes of Hazzard the motion picture, cousins Bo (Seann William Scott) and Luke Duke (Johnny Knoxville) are scraggly boorish agitators. More simply put: They’re morons.
The thing is, I actually like Stifler and Jackass, but let’s just say that there’s a greater chance of a Muslim Pope than of anyone winning an Oscar for anything here. It could have been worse. They could have brought in Coy and Vance to save the day. *shudder*
My greatest fear going in was that the worst part would be Jessica Simpson as Daisy Duke. And? Verily, it is she. Simpson has the T&A and the Jeep, but that’s all. I was actually embarrassed for her, and I’ve seen “Newlyweds.”
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Son, this turkey makes more sense than you do.
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Don’t get me wrong, though. If you’re in the mood for rural chuckleheads and grabassin’ then there is fun to be had. The audience behind me certainly made some noise, and I had to laugh more than a few times as well.
Credit for that goes to the creators. Hazzard was made by the guys who brought us the cult comedy Super Troopers, which is actually a selling point. Those guys even step in front of the camera for a couple of memorable scenes.
One character I couldn’t figure out was the one playing professional racer Billy Prickett. Was he trying out an imitation of Ben Stiller playing a NASCAR driver? Based on his herky-jerky mannerisms and ridiculous mustache, I say yes.
What did I enjoy most? The General Lee, silly. The most famous Dodge Charger in history revs up every bit of machismo you remember, leaping creeks, roads and leading dumb cops on many a reckless and impractical chase.
The most entertaining bits actually come in the credits with a few actor outtakes (except Simpson’s, whose flubs are even dull). Even more entertaining is the number of crashes of the General Lee during chases. One wrong bump and the Charger careens every which way.
Averting a stern warning by pantywaist liberals, the filmmakers actually utilized to their advantage the Confederate flag painted on top of the General Lee to mollify today’s PC police. They stuck the Duke boys in bumper-to-bumper Atlanta traffic where Bo and Luke are called every which way of hicks and hayseeds and almost get their butts kicked by some of our finest urban youths.
The verdict: 
