The Dukes of Hazzard Movie

[SuperJerk 0]

I'm not seeing it and I don't want to see it, but I'm morbidly curious enough to want to know the thoughts of anyone who did see it.

 

Here are Roger Ebert's thoughts:

 

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.d...EVIEWS/50725002

 

"The Dukes of Hazzard" is a comedy about two cousins who are closer'n brothers, and their car, which is smarter'n they are. It's a retread of a sitcom that ran from about 1979 to 1985, years during which I was able to find better ways to pass my time. Yes, it is still another TV program I have never ever seen. As this list grows, it provides more and more clues about why I am so smart and cheerful.

 

The movie stars Johnny Knoxville, from "Jackass," Seann William Scott, from "American Wedding," and Jessica Simpson, from Mars. Judging by her recent conversation on TV with Dean Richards, Simpson is so remarkably uninformed that she should sue the public schools of Abilene, Texas, or maybe they should sue her. On the day he won his seventh Tour de France, not many people could say, as she did, that they had no idea who Lance Armstrong was.

 

Of course you don't have to be smart to get into "The Dukes of Hazzard." But people like Willie Nelson and Burt Reynolds should have been smart enough to stay out of it. Here is a lame-brained, outdated wheeze about a couple of good ol' boys who roar around the back roads of the South in the General Lee, their beloved 1969 Dodge Charger. As it happens, I also drove a 1969 Dodge Charger. You could have told them apart because mine did not have a Confederate flag painted on the roof.

 

Scott and Knoxville play Bo Duke and Luke Duke; the absence of a Puke Duke is a sadly missed opportunity. They deliver moonshine manufactured by their Uncle Jesse (Willie Nelson), and depend on the General to outrun the forces of Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane (M.C. Gainey). The movie even has one of those obligatory scenes where the car is racing along when there's a quick cut to a gigantic Mack truck, its horn blasting as it bears down on them. They steer out of the way at the last possible moment. That giant Mack truck keeps busy in the movies, turning up again and again during chase scenes and always just barely missing the car containing the heroes, but this is the first time I have seen it making 60 mph down a single-lane dirt track.

 

Simpson plays Daisy Duke, whose short shorts became so famous on TV that they were known as "Daisy Dukes." She models them to a certain effect in a few brief scenes, but is missing from most of the movie. Maybe she isn't even smart enough to wear shorts. I learn from the Internet that Simpson has a dog named Daisy, but have been unable to learn if she named it before or after being signed for the role, and whether the dog is named after the character, the shorts, the flower, or perhaps (a long shot) Daisy Duck.

 

The local ruler is Boss Jefferson Davis Hogg (Burt Reynolds), "the meanest man in Hazzard County," who issues orders to the Sheriff and everybody else, and has a secret plan to strip-mine the county and turn it into a wasteland. I wonder if there were moments when Reynolds reflected that, karma-wise, this movie was the second half of what "Smokey and the Bandit" was the first half of.

 

There are a lot of scenes in the movie where the General is racing down back roads at high speeds and becomes airborne, leaping across ditches, rivers and suchlike, miraculously without breaking the moonshine bottles. Surely if you have seen, say, 12 scenes of a car flying through the air, you are not consumed by a need to see 12 more.

 

There is a NASCAR race in the film, and some amusing dialogue about car sponsorship. You know the film is set in modern times because along with Castrol and Coke, one of the car sponsors is Yahoo! I noted one immortal passage of dialogue, about a charity that is raising money for "one of the bifidas." I was also amused by mention of "The Al Unser Jr. Story," an "audiobook narrated by Laurence Fishburne."

 

The movie has one offensive scene, alas, that doesn't belong in a contemporary comedy. Bo and Luke are involved in a mishap that causes their faces to be blackened with soot, and then, wouldn't you know, they drive into an African-American neighborhood, where their car is surrounded by ominous young men who are not amused by blackface, or by the Confederate flag painted on the car. I was hoping maybe the boyz n the hood would carjack the General, which would provide a fresh twist to the story, but no, the scene sinks into the mire of its own despond.

 

I'm not shocked he never saw the TV show, since he'd never seen an episode of "Scooby Doo" either.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

I want this to flop, but it won't.

[the pinjockey 0]

I got a kick out of reading that review. I swear Jessica Simpson must have stabbed him at some point. I know people have made comments about her not being bright, but to use two paragraphs of a movie review column to make fun of her (not her acting, not her character, but her personally) is just sad.

 

The movie wasn't bad, but not exactly something you will watch over. The problem was that this really didn't feel like the Dukes of Hazzard other than the General Lee and the duke name attached. The cousins resembled Bud and Doyle from Bio-Dome more than they resembled Bo and Luke Duke. They weren't the lovable, good ol' boys, they became a couple of idiots just talking with a southern twang.

 

Plus the mood was a lot darker in general, Rosco is portrayed as a rough, corrupt sheriff as opposed to an oaf, Boss Hogg again is made into a standard villian as opposed to having the bit of charm the character from the show had.

 

It has some cool car scenes (obviously) and the one scene that was taken straight from Super Troopers got the biggest reaction from the audience. But other than that it was just standard buddy picture v.2.0.

 

Bonus funny moment: being seated a few seats away from some 13 year old boys. Everytime Jessica Simpson came on screen they shifted in their seats and started to whisper to each other.

[the pinjockey 0]

Also, there was not a NASCAR race, there was a "NASCAR racer" in the movie. Yes, there is a difference for anyone who actually paid attention, like a reviewer should be expected to do.

[Guest wildpegasus]

I read a review in the paper that said it was the worst movie of ALL time.

 

 

I saw a commercial for the movie. From that 30 seconds I could tell they completely missed the target on what the Dukes of Hazzard is all about. I definitely won't be seeing this movie which is sad since I like the Dukes of Hazzard so much.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

I bet Ebert also thinks Jes is dumb because she doesn't know what "Old Country Buffet" is.

 

But did Roger give it ***?

 

And I, too, want this movie to bomb, but sadly it probably won't...

[Sideburnious 0]

Why do you want it to bomb? Why don't you just not go see it.

[SuperJerk 0]

I bet Ebert also thinks Jes is dumb because she doesn't know what "Old Country Buffet" is.

 

But did Roger give it ***?

 

And I, too, want this movie to bomb, but sadly it probably won't...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

He gave it one *.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Why do you want it to bomb? Why don't you just not go see it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I'm not a fan of the TV Dukes series, but this just looks downright horrible. The TV show had this campy charm to it; this movie does not. I'm hoping crappy movies that are based off a TV show goes away, which is one reason I'm glad that Honeymooners film bombed (or at least I was under the impression it did...)

[Darthtiki 0]

It has some cool car scenes (obviously) and the one scene that was taken straight from Super Troopers got the biggest reaction from the audience.  But other than that it was just standard buddy picture v.2.0.

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Considering the director was the same guy who co-wrote and directed ST and played Thorny in the film, I'm not surprised

[KingPK 0]

Why do you want it to bomb? Why don't you just not go see it.

 

Personally, I want this to bomb and continue the box office slump so that movie studios just might finally get the clue that people are sick of all the half-assed remakes and sequels we've seen this summer (except for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which was actually good) and start putting out some original and creative stuff (which is probably why Wedding Crashers is doing such monster numbers).

 

EDIT: Looking at Box Office Mojo, this made $12.1M on Friday. Guess The Hewitt Principle (in which having a star whose breasts are prominently featured in a movie = $$$) is proven once again.

[Hank Kingsley 0]

EDIT: Looking at Box Office Mojo, this made $12.1M on Friday.  Guess The Hewitt Principle (in which having a star whose breasts are prominently featured in a movie = $$$) is proven once again.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

[Slayer 0]

Personally, I want this to bomb and continue the box office slump so that movie studios just might finally get the clue that people are sick of all the half-assed remakes and sequels we've seen this summer (except for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which was actually good) and start putting out some original and creative stuff

I feel the exact same way, but...

 

 

EDIT: Looking at Box Office Mojo, this made $12.1M on Friday.  Guess The Hewitt Principle (in which having a star whose breasts are prominently featured in a movie = $$$) is proven once again.

[Hank Kingsley 0]

Seriously, that's ridiculous.

 

The only movie I care about seeing right now is Broken Flowers, and that probably won't come out down here for another few weeks, if at all.

[Steve J. Rogers 0]

So I'm guessing this is not a "Starsky & Hutch" style remake

 

Thats a shame

 

What I mean is:

 

If a movie is a remake of an old TV show you can either

 

A) Give it a loving tribute to the show and/or genre (i.e. for S&H mid-to-late 70's Buddy Cop movies)

 

B) Be simply a modern style adaptation using current day conventions and such (Honeymooners, Lost In Space)

 

or

 

C) Due a complete full-on parody of the show and its time that makes people wonder "How did I LIKE this back in the day" or "How did anyone LIKE this back in the day" (Brady Bunch)

 

From comments and critics it sounds like C

 

Steve

[Guest El Satanico]

The Starsky and Hutch movie wasn't a parody style adaptation? I must've seen a different version.

 

This doesn't look any different than the Starskky and Hutch movie, it just doesn't involve the Will Ferrell/Vince Vaugh/Owen Wilson crew.

[NoCalMike 0]

So when this bombs, will the studios blame it on pirates? LOL.

[bob_barron 0]

What are you talking about? If you mean Dukes, then no, it didn't bomb.

 

And no, I did not laugh out loud.

[Steve J. Rogers 0]

The Starsky and Hutch movie wasn't a parody style adaptation? I must've seen a different version.

 

This doesn't look any different than the Starskky and Hutch movie, it just doesn't involve the Will Ferrell/Vince Vaugh/Owen Wilson crew.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

What I mean is nothing stood out in terms of flat-out parody of the times.

 

Let me put it this way, it looked like it could have stood on its own in 1975 as a comedy, not as a drama

 

It didn't go out of its way to make fun of styles, the way people talked, pop-culture references, ect. It basically had a look of a 70's buddy cop movie, only as a comedy not a drama

 

Steve

[Guest JMA]

I haven't seen this movie (and I don't plan to) but I was surprised to see just how bad the reviews were. That isn't good news for the film in the long run.

[slimm44 0]

The first time I saw the trailer I said 'this is a movie you want to go see stoned.' I'll probably check it out later this week