DUKES OF HAZZARD
Directed by Jay Chandrasekhar
Starring Johnny Knoxville, Seann William Scott,
Jessica Simpson, Burt Reynolds
THE warning signs are
there: Redneck country, Jessica Simpson, tiny, tiny
shorts and Sean William Scott. The signs of yet
another summer brain-buster.
But wait. The buxom and ditzy Miss Simpson may just
have some acting talent. She came off pretty darn
smart in this movie, as opposed to her reality TV
life in The Newlyweds.
So the question: Is Simpson pretending to be smart?
The Dukes of Hazzard are Daisy, her cousins Bo (Seann
William Scott) and Luke (Johnny Knoxville) and their
moonshine-making uncle Jesse (Willie Nelson) who
live a peaceful life in Hazzard. Well, almost
peaceful, for the chirping of crickets is broken by
Bo and Luke’s orange monster of a 1969 Dodge
Charger, "General Lee".
Bo and Luke are trouble-makers with hearts of gold
and genuine respect for women.
Then there’s crooked commissioner Boss Hogg (Burt
Reynolds), a shade too red, who is determined to
turn their pretty country town into a giant coal
mine.
Will the local folk take the Dukes seriously while
they try to convince them of the Boss Hogg’s evil
plan?
The producers may be banking on the success of the
1979 television series and the appeal of the South
in the 1970s may just win over the younger set.
The Duke boys’ crazy antics in their beat-up car is
bound to be a winner during the warm summer months
when the heat makes the brain sizzle.
There are several politically-correct additions to
update this movie: the inclusion of African-American
boyz in da hood who threaten to beat up Bo and Luke
for the politically-incorrect flag on the roof of
their car and Yahoo! advertising on a race car
driver’s overalls.
Fans of Simpson may be disappointed by her lack of
regular appearances throughout the movie but rest
assured, there’ll be plenty of skin.
A saving grace though is that her music did not
dominate the soundtrack.
Her cover of Nancy Sinatra’s 1966 classic These
Boots Are Made For Walkin’ only appears when the
closing credits roll out.
Look out for former Wonder Woman star Lynda Carter
in a cameo role as Pauline, the object of Uncle
Jesse’s affection.
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