August 24, 2005
The Dukes of Hazzard
Luke Duke - Johnny Knoxville
Bo Duke - Seann William Scott
Daisy Duke - Jessica Simpson
Uncle Jesse - Willy Nelson
Boss Hogg - Burt Reynolds
Well, it may not be the most intellectual of movies, but it's still fun. I walked into this movie expecting to hate it. Yes, I know I shouldn't do that, but Dukes of Hazzard was a large part of my growing up, and a lot of the show depicted life in my own neck of the woods.
So, the first thing I did was nit-pick. Daisy would never do that, Bo would never do this, blah blah blah, the General Lee isn't supposed to have doors that open, and where the hell is the flag on the top?
But then, after you get past the nit-picking point, and accept the fact that the movie is going to be different (a little or a lot) from the TV show you knew and loved as a child, you can let yourself go and just enjoy the flight of fancy.
I mean, literally, nothing makes sense. Well, it does, when you immerse yourself in the county of Hazzard. Who do you go to when you suspect the law is up to no good? If you're the Duke Boys, you don't go to no one. You just terrorize, break up, beat down, peel out, punch out, steal, drag, kick, shovel and tow just about anything you can to get to the truth.
Ah, if only life were that simple. And lucky.
The Duke boys certainly do have their luck cut out for them, and to their credit (and to the credit of the writers), they're always lucky. It gets a bit annoying in some places where you think, 'Oh, that couldn't happen. Please.'
But mostly, if you can just let go of logic, you'll like this film.
Some pitchfork points:
- Technically speaking, the chase scenes were a bit hard to follow. There was a lot of on the ground action, which leads to shakey camera work, lots of dust coverage, and leaves you with an almost sick feeling, and a wondering where the hell the General Lee went.
- Bo Duke is dumb as a post in this movie. I don't recall him being so stupid before, and I was a little disappointed. He also had a love affair with the General Lee that was taken a bit too far.
'I'll make love to it (the General Lee)'
'you mean in it.'
'No...I mean to it.'Considering that the General Lee is a car, and also supposedly a 'male'; yeah. ew.
- Jessica Simpson as Daisy Duke. Need I say more?
Starting with a 5 halo rating and subtracting the pitchfork points, I would give this movie a rating of:
Just try to enjoy.
Posted by calima at August 24, 2005 11:10 AM