When I was growing up, I watched The Dukes of Hazzard all the time until the show was cancelled. I can’t remember when I first heard that a movie based on the show was going to be made. Since I had liked the show so much I did figure I would go see the movie. After learning who some of the actors were and then seeing previews I was having doubts about how much I would like it. I did still decide to go see The Dukes of Hazzard.

Bo and Luke Duke were cousins that raced around Hazzard County in a car they called General Lee. They lived on a farm with their cousin Daisy and Uncle Jessie. He made moonshine and Bo and Luke delivered it. Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane didn’t like the Dukes and seemed to be looking for reasons to get them out of Hazzard. Boss Hogg was corrupt and the most powerful man in Hazzard. Roscoe did whatever Boss Hogg told him to do. Boss Hogg came up with a plan to get the Dukes off their farm. An annual race in Hazzard, which Bo had won for the last four years, was going to play a part in the plan as well. Bo and Luke decided that they were going to stop Boss Hogg.

The plot of The Dukes of Hazzard was very straight froward and really offered no surprises. I wasn’t expecting a complex story or surprises, so I wasn’t disappointed by that. The tv show was straight forward and a bit simple as well. The show and movie weren’t meant to be serious. They were meant to be watched for mindless entertainment. The movie did succeed at that. There were a few scenes, like when Bo and Luke were looking for a girl from Hazzard at a sorority house, that really didn’t add anything to the movie. Male viewers may disagree with me about that since several scantily clad women were shown during the search. Bo and Luke could have found their friend without all those women being shown.

I think that The Dukes of Hazzard was meant to be an action comedy movie. There were several things that happened that did make me laugh, though I didn’t think it was hilarious. Some things that were done for laughs were just silly. That didn’t bother me too much since that did happen in the tv show too. There was a lot of action provided by car chases throughout the movie. I expected that because it was a big part of the show. The General Lee was involved in most of the chases. They were well done, though the camera work did get a bit shake at times. It wasn’t as bad as it has been in some other movies. The car chases were entertaining. Once the credits start, some bloopers were shown along with scenes that showed how bad some of the cars got beat up attempting some of the jumps. There were a few explosions used and a fight or two as well. The fights did add some violence to the movie. I didn’t think that the movie was that violent, though some people may feel differently. Most of the characters swore throughout the movie. The word that rhymes with luck wasn’t used.

In the tv show, Daisy tended to wear short shorts frequently. Daisy did that in the movie as well. The camera lingered on her legs more than once. Daisy also wore some low cut shirts that showed off a lot of cleavage. She showed up in a bikini in one scene and wore a bikini top with her shorts in another. She did show off a lot of skin, but she was never naked. Daisy did wear some shirts that were low cut on the tv show, but she didn’t show as much cleavage then. I think her outfits were made skimpier for the movie to try to attract more male viewers. Some men actually started clapping when Daisy was shown in some of the skimpy outfits when I saw the movie. A few other characters also showed a lot of skin. There was no nudity in the movie though there were some sexual situations. The movie wasn’t as family friendly as the tv show because of the sexual situations and the language used.

The main thing that bothered me about The Dukes of Hazzard was how some of the characters were changed. I know the movie was meant to be a new version and that things would be different. It was based on a popular tv show that had been on the air long enough to establish that the main characters acted a certain way. I think that characters were changed too much for the movie. I didn’t expect the movie to be identical to the show. I do think the characters should have been closer to the originals. Luke seemed ok for the most part, though was wilder than how he was on the show. Johnny Knoxville was all right for the part and at least sort of looked like the character. He did have stubble for the whole movie which made him look a bit scruffy. Bo had stubble as well. It wasn’t a good look for either of them.

I had my doubts about Seann William Scott as Bo ever since I heard he had been cast. I have liked him in other movies, but I just didn’t think he fit the part. Bo was always my favorite on the show and I even had a crush on John Schneider. Bo was all wrong in this movie. He was still a good driver. That was basically all they got right for that character though. He was turned into a stupid idiot. He talked to the General Lee like it was an actual person and even acted like he heard the car talking back to him at times. One time he even said he wanted to have sex with the car even though he considered it a male. That was just stupid and wrong. He acted crazy in some scenes. A few things he did, especially around women, reminded me of things Stifler did, and that just didn’t work for this character for me. Maybe they way Bo was changed annoyed me more because he was my favorite on the show. I’m not trying to say Bo, or any of the characters for that matter, were geniuses on the show. They weren’t. The characters were just dumbed down entirely too much for the movie.

I also felt that Roscoe was way off. On the show, he was a bit goofy and had a very unique laugh. He wasn’t goofy in any way and never laughed in the movie. Even when he was running around plotting with Boss Hogg on the show he was still likeable. That wasn’t the case in the movie. Roscoe tended to say several things on the show, like how he was going to cuff and stuff someone or that someone had scuffed his vehicle. Roscoe would also identify himself with his title and full name all the time. He never said those things once in the movie. He just wasn’t Roscoe. All the fun things about the character were gone. His dog Flash did show up in a few scenes. The dog wasn’t with Roscoe as much as she was in the show. I didn’t like M.C. Gainey in the part. Burt Reynolds was all right as Boss Hogg. He was thinner than Boss Hogg on the show, so of course Roscoe wasn’t calling him his little fat buddy. Boss Hogg managed to have some likeable traits in the show as well that were missing in the movie. Boss Hogg always wore white suits. Late in the movie I noticed that his suit was actually off white or cream colored instead and it didn’t match his hat. That was a little thing, but it bugged me. Boss Hogg and Roscoe got along well in the show. They didn’t seem to be as close in the movie. Something was missing from the dynamic between them. Enos wasn’t in much of the movie. Something didn’t seem exactly right about him either, but I’m not sure what it was exactly.

Daisy seemed to be a bit more sexual than she was in the show. She wasn’t having sex all the time or anything, but she did wear some outfits that were more revealing and she was always using her sex appeal to manipulate men. Daisy didn’t have a lot to do in the movie. It seemed like her only purpose was to look sexy. I thought that Jessica Simpson was fine in the part. This was her first movie. She has done a few specials on television with her husband along with the reality show and she was in a few episodes of That 70's Show a few years ago. Willie Nelson had very little to do as Uncle Jessie. He had fewer scenes than Daisy did. The few times he actually had some lines, he was just cracking stupid jokes. Uncle Jessie never did that and it didn’t fit at all. Nelson was at least about the right age for the character. It was sort of strange for Uncle Jessie to have that long braid. Cooter wasn’t in enough of the movie to tell if he was different from original character.

Lynda Carter had a small part as Pauline, a friend of the family. She was fine in the part even though she had little to do. Kevin Heffernan played another new character Sheev. There wasn’t much point in his character. He just wondered around in his underwear, which wasn’t pleasant to see, wore a hat he made from an armadillo, and blew something up. He did help Bo and Luke do something, but they could have gotten Cooter to help instead. The director, Jay Chandrasekhar, made a small appearance as a campus police officer after Bo and Luke. There was a narrator like there was on the tv show. Every so often the action would freeze while he said something like happened before a commercial on the show. The freezing of the action didn't seem to work as well in the movie.

CAST

Lynda Carter - Pauline
M.C. Gainey - Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane
Kevin Heffernan - Sheev
Johnny Knoxville - Luke Duke
David Koechner - Cooter
Willie Nelson - Uncle Jessie
Burt Reynolds - Boss Hogg
Seann William Scott - Bo Duke
Jessica Simpson - Daisy Duke
Michael Weston - Enos Strate

Jay Chandrasekhar - Director

The Dukes of Hazzard wasn’t a horrible movie, but it could have been a lot better. I didn’t mind the silly plot and did enjoy parts of the movie. Many of the characters were just changed too much and that is what caused me to be disappointed with the movie. Maybe people who haven’t seen the show could enjoy it more than I did. Fans of the show may end up feeling like too much was wrong with the characters though. People looking for a fun movie with some action in it could enjoy it if their expectations weren’t too high. If I would recommend this one really depends on who was considering seeing it since I do have some mixed feelings about it. I have one friend I know would hate it so I wouldn't recommend it to him. I do think it could be entertaining for some people.

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Recommended:
Yes

Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older