The General Lee in THE DUKES OF HAZZARDS (2005).
© Warner Bros. Pictures

Mania Grade: B
Reviewed Format: Theatrical Release
Rated: PG-13
Stars: Seann William Scott, Johnny Knoxville, Jessica Simpson, Burt Reynolds
Writer: John O'Brien, based on the television series created by Cy Waldron
Director: Jay Chandrasekhar
Distributor: Warner Bros.

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THE DUKES OF HAZZARD

This reviewer totally missed THE DUKES OF HAZZARD in the entirety of its famed television run, so there was nothing for the feature film adaptation to live up or down to, apart from expectations engendered by the slim premise.

By all accounts, the DUKES OF HAZZARD movie has a plot that could have come from the TV show. The stunts are a little bigger and the language is a whole lot stronger, but nobody here is trying to do for DUKES what SciFi Channel's new take on BATTLESTAR GALACTICA has done with its source material.

John O'Brien's script (with uncredited assistance from various members of the Broken Lizard comedy troupe) is silly enough to feel faithful to the general notion of a story that's determinedly about two good ol' boy cousins and their souped-up car, yet somehow deft enough to pass muster as agreeable entertainment. Director Jay Chandrasekhar has spoken in the press of his love for movies like ANIMAL HOUSE and THE BLUES BROTHERS, and it shines through this feels like a '70s comedy with a loose plot, surreal gags and a genial attitude.

For the record, Luke Duke (Johnny Knoxville) and Bo Duke (Seann William Scott) love to go careening around their rural hometown of Hazzard County, GA, in the souped-up orange vehicle known as The General Lee. There's a big race coming up and villainous Boss Hogg (Burt Reynolds) has a scheme to strip-mine the land. Dukes to the rescue, even though the odds and a lot of law enforcement personnel are against them.

There's no point scrutinizing the storyline, which hangs together with explanations just this side of dream logic much of the time, but a lot of the jokes work very well. The filmmakers take pains to acknowledge, in one of the movie's better running gags, that a lot of reasonable people are unthrilled at the Confederate flag symbol adorning the top of the General Lee the Dukes are oblivious to both the decoration itself and the political ramifications behind it. The car stunts are in fact spectacular fans of ramp jumps will find much to be happy about here.

The accents of the leads all sound a bit wobbly (strange in Knoxville's case, as he's actually from Tennessee), but Knoxville and Scott both cop the right attitude. Simpson is very fetching in cousin Daisy Duke's shorts and Willie Nelson and Lynda Carter hit the right notes of both '70s tone and street cred.

THE DUKES OF HAZZARD is far from the best TV-to-screen transfer, but it's far from the worst, either. As these things go, it's a modest but sufficient entertainment in its own right for people who liked '70s action/comedy and still warm to the sight of an airborne car.