This movie sucked. Save your money, don't bother, this movie is a waste of time. I'd say that it's not even worth a DVD rental, but I heard that a more raunchy R-rated version will be made available, and that might be worth watching. Otherwise, forget it.
When I was a kid, I used to like the TV series "The Dukes of Hazzard." I wasn't fanatical, and I probably got into it just because it followed "The Incredible Hulk" Friday nights on CBS, but I did watch it and I enjoyed it. At the time, the Confederate flag that was emblazoned on the roof of the General Lee (the famous car featured on the show) meant nothing to me. As I got older, I learned that the Confederate flag was racist. Many who love the flag claim that it has to do with Southern pride, not racism, but the fact is that the flag symbolizes the South from the past, which encouraged slavery. I'm sorry if I'm offending any southerners reading this, but to me, the Confederate flag is a racist symbol, and those who wave it proudly are racist, or at the very least, ignorant. That being said, when "The Dukes of Hazzard" was on the air, it was a different time, and political correctness was minimal (unfortunately, political correctness has gotten TOO prevalent, but that's another rant altogether). Besides, I don't think that "The Dukes of Hazzard" was a racist show. Sure, the Confederate flag was all over the place, but the show was about rednecks, and rednecks love their Confederate flags. Besides, "The Dukes of Hazzard" was full of ignorant characters, not racist ones.
It was only a matter of time before a feature film version of "The Dukes of Hazzard" got made. The fan base is huge, and it could be made on a relatively low budget. The only problem was that times had changed, and having the Confederate flag painted on the roof of the car seemed outdated. Not to mention, Hollywood wouldn't wanna be involved in anything that could possibly perceived as racist. At the same time, the fans of the show were rabid, and having the car without the Confederate flag painted on the roof would really piss them off. As it turns out, there are two scenes in the movie that address the controversy in an effort to make it okay for the symbol to be on the car's roof. I don't wanna give anything away, but the first scene is perfect. It brings up how people react to the flag, and it makes it quite obvious that only an ignorant fool or a racist would have the symbol on the roof of their car. The second scene is overkill, and ultimately ends up practically nullifying how well the earlier scene worked because it plays on racist humor involving blackface, and this movie didn't seem qualified to do that. I dunno, it just came across as really awkward.
Aside from that, there are plenty of other things wrong with this movie. It's a comedy, but with the exception of a few amusing moments, it's not very funny. It's based on a TV show, but the movie has no interest in being faithful to the characters of the show. I honestly think that most fans of the TV show will hate it, since the characters have very little in common with their TV show counterparts. The intimidating "Rosco P. Coltrane" depicted in the film is NOTHING like the bumbling dork from the TV show. In this movie, "Boss Hogg" is a thin, smooth talking villain. In the TV show, he was a big fat guy who ate fried chicken all the time and was about as subtle as a sledgehammer. The TV show wasn't exactly masterpiece theater, but it had a charm that was all its own. I really can't see why they couldn't have at least made the characters truer to how they were on the show.
Another big problem is the casting, with Johnny Knoxville (from "Jackass") as "Luke Duke" and Seann William Scott ("Stifler" from "American Pie") as "Bo Duke." I like Johnny Knoxville and I like Seann William Scott, but these guys were not the right actors for these roles. I also think Burt Reynolds was the wrong choice for "Boss Hogg," and M.C. Gainey was wrong for "Rosco P. Coltrane." The two casting choices I like are Jessica Simpson as "Daisy Duke" and Willie Nelson as "Uncle Jesse." Unfortunately, neither of them are in the movie very much. Lynda Carter from TV's "Wonder Woman" (and she was recently seen in "Sky High") is also in the movie, but the role is completely unnecessary. Still, I'm glad to see she's working. Probably my favorite casting choice is Joe Don Baker as "Governor Jim Applewhite," but that's only because just looking at Joe Don Baker makes me laugh. All I can think of when I see him is the "Mystery Science Theater 3000" version of his movie "Mitchell." Heh. Funny shit.
"The Dukes of Hazzard" (the movie, not the TV show) is credited as being written by Jonathan Davis (I have no idea who he is) and John O'Brien (he helped write the feature film version of "Starsky & Hutch," and he helped write "Cradle 2 the Grave"). Although not credited, it was also written by the Broken Lizard comedy troupe, the team responsible for "Club Dread" and "Super Troopers." The director of those films, Broken Lizard member Jay Chandrasekhar, also directed this one. Based on "The Dukes of Hazzard," I can't say that I have any desire to see the previous Broken Lizard films.
There are some things that save this movie from being an absolute piece of shit (think "Mortal Kombat: Annihilation"). The car chases are well shot, the stunt driving is spectacular, and there are three or four genuinely funny moments. Also, every moment featuring Jessica Simpson (especially when she's in a bikini) almost makes sitting through the rest of the film totally worth it. Almost, but not quite. Oh, and I should also say that when the movie (mercifully) reaches its conclusion, there's a blooper reel that actually is quite funny.
This movie was a big disappointment. Fans of the show won't like it, and non-fans looking for a good comedy won't like it. In fact, the only people likely to enjoy this movie are really young kids. That's about it. Hopefully the R-rated DVD will be a big improvement, and if it includes that sexy Jessica Simpson video where she washes the General Lee, I might even buy it.
Scale of 1-10: 3