Hazzard

I had low expectations when going to see this film, so I wasn't disappointed: it was a lot better than I expected.

A lot of the jokes are corny and the plot is weak, but I have to say that the audience I saw it with thought it was hilarious. There was a lot of laughing throughout the film, some of it at Willie Nelson's terrible jokes (and he has a stack of them), some at the various situations and some at the antics of the Duke cousins. I was in need of cheering up and had a good cackle at this. A lot of the driving sequences were highly enjoyable.

Not Oscar winning material, but a good laugh. Don't take it seriously and you may enjoy it!

I'll start this review off with a few words of commentary; a Fiendatorial, if you will.

Ben Jones commenced a great bruja-ja here in (semi-)local Knoxville when he was present for the unveiling of this cinematic work. It seems that Mr. Jones (and while he spoke for some of the other "original" cast members, I never quite believed he was authorized to do that) believes that he should have been offered a cameo in this work. Since he wasn't, he has set about extolling the horrors of this modernized update of the beloved (?!) family series.

Okay, I'll accept that some people did LOVE this series. But the Dukes of Hazard always was a bit racy for some. Bo and Luke ran moonshine from their Uncle Jessie's still, Daisy was a little short on the wardrobe department, and Uncle Jessie was the leader of this motley hillbilly moonshine gang that any "Revenuer" worth his badge would have loved to have thrown in jail. The "boys" stayed in a constant state of trouble, and flaunted their illegal activities in the face of local law enforcement. These were NOT "good" boys!

No, there was no marijuana use in the television series. It was TELEVISION! They couldn't do that and be on television as a series.

Frankly, I never loved the series. I thought it was hokey, unintelligent, and downright stupid. It made Southerners look like we ARE inbred idiots. I detested it.

As far as this modernization goes, I found it to be a 100% improvement over the cheesy dialog and horrible acting perpetrated upon us by the series! The performances were great, the plot was in keeping with the original series, the action...wow the action!

This movie was a stunt-driver's wet dream! It was reminiscent (if only a small bit) of Smokey and the Bandit in that it was great fun to watch. And while I enjoyed Jessica Simpson's Daisy Duke far more than I thought was possible, she would have made a better Ellie Mae Clampett, in my opinion.

It wasn't afraid to laugh at itself and never took itself too seriously. Unfortunately, Burt Reynolds was a very weak Boss Hogg. I have no idea what they were thinking. The casting choice wasn't necessarily a bad call, but the direction of his character was just flaccid, as was Burt's performance. He played him too unemotional without ever coming close to hitting the level of calculated treachery Sorrel Brooke's Boss Hogg exuded. I felt that Mr. Reynolds was just...horrible in this endeavor, but Willie Nelson more than made up for that in his portrayal as Uncle Jessie.

So don't listen to the nay-sayers. This is a highly entertaining endeavor. Even those of us of the "alternative" categorization could (and did) experience a few honest belly-laughs at our own expense. Heck, we survived "Deliverance!" I'm sure we'll survive this.

The best line in the movie?

"You're hillbillies!"

"We prefer Appalachian-Americans!"

It rates a 7.6/10.

I am surprised at how low the scores are for this movie. My least favorite movie of all time has a higher score (Blair Witch 2).

But let me tell you, at no point was I tempted to walk out of the theater - I enjoyed almost every minute. I am 32 years of age and loved the show when I was a kid - if you didn't like the show, then I certainly wouldn't waste your time with this movie. And if you are going to get upset because this is a sexually charged, NON-family movie, save your cash. The Dukes are a swearing, moonshine-drinking, woman-chasing bunch. I definitely DO consider myself to be a movie snob - I appreciate good movies, and have become a huge fan of foreign / art films. I'm not saying "Dukes" is in the same ballpark as a really good movie - I certainly won't be purchasing the DVD - but don't be automatically scared away by the terrible reviews. And for what this is worth - the audience that I viewed the movie with was laughing, clapping hands, and clearly enjoyed the film.

Happy viewing!

Having read some of the other comments here I was expecting something truly awful but was pleasantly surprised. REALITY CHECK: The original series wasn't that good. I think some people remember it with more affection than it deserved but apart from the car chases and Daisy Duke's legs the scripts were weak and poorly acted. The Duke boys were too intelligent and posh for backwood hicks, the shrunken Boss Hog was too cretinous to be evil and Rosco was just hyper throughout every screen moment. It's amazing the series actually lasted as long as it did because it ran out of story lines during the first series.

Back to the movie. If you watch this film in it's own right, not as a direct comparison to however you remember the TV series, then it's not bad at all. The real star is of course the General Lee. The car chases and stunts are excellent and that's really what D.O.H. is all about. Johnny Knoxville is his usual eccentric self and along with Seann William Scott as Cousin Bo the pair make this film really funny in a hilarious Dumb-And-Dumber sort of way the TV series never achieved. The lovely Jessica Simpson is a natch as Miss Daisy, Burt Reynolds makes a much improved Boss Hog and M.C. Gainey makes a believably nasty Rosco P. Coltrane, the way he always should have been.

If you don't like slapstick humour and crazy car stunts then you wouldn't be watching this film anyway because you should know what to expect. Otherwise if you want an entertaining car-action movie with a few good laughs that's not too taxing on the brain then go see this enjoyable romp with an open mind.

Oh the days when any half way decent old TV show was getting turned into an underwhelming movie. This movie definitely isn't good, but everyone seems to be having fun with it and, despite the flaws, I find this to be pretty darn watchable background noise.