2005 idiocyRating: 3/20
Plot: See a synopsis for pretty much any of the television episodes of The Dukes of Hazzard but stretched into twice the length. Boss Hogg wants Jesse Duke's farm, Daisy Duke's got long legs and a vapid expression, and Bo and Luke drive their car around really fast. Honk-honk-honk-honk-honk-honk-honk-honk-honk-honk-honk-honk. (Now go back and read that again to "Wish I Was in Dixie."
The good ol' boys, according to Waylon Jennings, were never meanin' no harm, but I'm not completely convinced the makers of this film version of the television show weren't. Or were. Too many double negatives and too much time for me to spend in Hazzard County to figure out what I even typed there.
Here's the biggest issue that I have with this movie: Johnny Knoxville--a guy I like when he's lighting his balls on fire or shoving toy army soldiers into his anus; also, a guy with a charisma and natural charm and good looks that could have made him a star if he would have made better decisions--and Seann William Scott--a guy with not only too many first names but too many N's in one of them--recreate the Duke boys as really unlikable characters. The television cousins were rude but always retained some likability. You rooted for them even though they were breaking some rules because they were firmly on the good side. These Duke boys are impossible to root for. They're jerks. And really stupid. You'd expect a character played by Jessica Simpson to be stupid, but I don't remember the Duke boys being so dumb. Or maybe Bo was. I don't remember. Actually, there's not a single performance on this that I enjoyed. Jessica Simpson looks good enough. Just ask Gene Siskel's ghost's erection! Willie Nelson looks confused, almost like he's wondering how his career hit such dismal depths. Watching him on the little motel television set me made really sad. Burt Reynolds? He's obviously just showing up for the paycheck and isn't half the actor that the porcine Sorrell Booke. I mean that literally and figuratively. M.C. Gaines doesn't even attempt that "Goo-goo-goo" giggle that the great James Best's Rosco P. Coltrane had. They even found themselves a Waylon Jennings imitator. There's just no spark to these characters. They go through the motions, sort of look like the original characters, and get in the same car crashes. But they very obviously are not the same characters and this Hazzard County is not the same world that the television show created.
Or more than likely it is but desperately needed to be half the length that it was with a few commercial breaks. I need some breaks from all the car crashes. As it is, it's one of the most mind-numbing pieces of crap I've ever seen, and I really feel more dumber for spending time with it. My vote for most ridiculous moments: Anytime Bo Duke talks to his car. I half-expected there to be a Bo Duke/General Lee sex scene at some point. I would have given it a five point boost.
Sidebar: I was talking about this movie and t.v. show with a black friend of mine. My token black friend so that I can make a few racist remarks every now and then and defend myself by saying, "It's ok because I have a black friend." It's the same reason that I'm friends with a gay guy, a little person, and a Republican actually. And a mentally-challenged guy. They're my entourage. Anyway, this guy's about my age and talked about loving this show as a kid without having any idea that a racial undercurrent was there. I always wondered growing up whether this show had any black fans. My black friend (See? That almost makes me a better person just for typing that!) said he remembers a recurring black character on the original series, a guy who was always in the big city they would sometimes go to. He didn't have any lines though. I think there should have been an episode where Bo and Luke interact with some black guys. The scene would freeze as they stand face-to-face and Waylon Jennings would say, "Black guys? The Duke boys sure are in trouble now!" and then that banjo riff would play. It'd be the ultimate cliffhanger because black people are really really dangerous. And I can say that because I have a black friend.
I'd be surprised to find out that this movie had any fans, by the way.
4 comments:
This was my absolute favorite show growing up. I was luke, my curly headed blonde friend chad was bo. i slept over at his house every friday because the show came on at 9 and his parents would let us stay up. and he had a tv in his room. at age 7. and he rubbed his boogers on the wall and made me sleep in the bottom bunk next to the booger wall. and we'd get in fights and he wrote "larry is a shit" on the back of his superman poster. when we made up i asked him why he didn't cross it out, he said "because we'll probably get into another fight." his last name was brockelsby. (sp?) he was the first protestant i ever met. he moved when i was in second grade.
oh and i'll never watch this for the sole reason daisy was cast as a blonde.
when i was finally allowed to stay up til 10 they moved the show to 8. that pissed me off. and then there was that horrible year with vance and somebody, their cousins. there is much on the internet about this trangression which says a lot about the state of this planet. i also watched every episode of the spin-off "Enos" where he went to the big city of LA. I felt hollow inside. Just now I realize how dumb/brilliant it was to name a character Enos.
Now I feel pressure to respond...and that won't make any sense because you deleted that second comment.
I wouldn't have been friends with a kid who refused to get rid of "Larry is a shit" from the back of his poster. Well, actually, I would have because I'm not Larry. I don't think I used any curse words until 3rd grade, by the way, so you guys were advanced.
Trust me--there are a variety of more offensive reasons to keep you away from this movie. The blonde thing isn't even in the top 7!
I vaguely remember the Vance/Coy episodes...they were direct copies of Bo/Luke so that didn't work.
Enos Strate. Before Dylan was born, I'd brought up Enos as a possible name. Probably Rosco, too. Jen wouldn't go for it.
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