Sure it is... You read it for the articles too huh?
Posted on 08/17/2005 9:48:29 PM PDT by goldstategop
I was prepared to really hate this movie. But I didn’t.
I was ready to leave the theater with a big, cornbread-flavored chip on my shoulder, huffing about unfair representations of white Southerners. Instead, I left a little homesick.
I was prepared to be saddened by what I was sure would be a blight on the good name of the Dukes of Hazzard County. Instead, I found myself once again marveling at the Hemi-charged flight of the General Lee.
Perhaps it’s because my expectations were so low that I was able to enjoy this movie, but I think it was more than that. It was the General Lee.
In recreating a beloved TV classic, director Jay Chandrasekhar and writer John O’Brien undoubtedly knew they weren’t ever going to please everyone with casting. Let’s be serious—there has never and will never be another Tom Wopat. But they did what they could. Burt Reynolds as Boss Hogg and Willie Nelson as Uncle Jesse are hard to take issue with. Jessica Simpson was sizzling as Daisy Duke without being overly sleazy. And, then there were the Duke boys— I never did quite buy Johnny Knoxville and Seann Michael Scott as Luke and Bo, but they were all secondary. You know why?
Because this movie got one thing perfectly, beautifully, roaringly right. The General Lee.
The rumbling, orange, ’69 Dodge Charger was in top form, and the director was smart enough to let the General steal almost every scene he was in. The writers even found a way to get the car’s Confederate-flag paint job past the political correctors. For not sacrificing the Stars and Bars on the altar of tolerance, the writers were rewarded with one of the funniest scenes in the movie—the Duke boys caught in stand-still, Atlanta traffic while, unbeknownst to them, the flag of the Confederacy flies on their roof. The gag did exactly what this movie was supposed to do. It brought Bo and Luke into the 21st century without sacrificing their Southernness, and it did it in a surprisingly clever way.
Of course, Southernness requires an accent—one that Hollywood has a special way of butchering. But Scott and Knoxville’s attempts were respectable. Keanu Reeves, Demi Moore, and other more respected professional pretenders should be ashamed that they were shown up by the dialectic abilities of Stifler and Jackass. They weren’t perfect, but they weren’t grating or British-sounding. Oddly, native Minnesotan Scott pulled it off with more success than Tennessean Knoxville and Texan Jessica Simpson, who tried just a little too hard.
Simpson, though entirely too blonde for the part in this brunette’s view, did more justice to Catherine Bach than I had bet on. The script makes Simpson a bit more savvy than her real-life persona, which is good considering the real Jessica would be great at seducing the bad guys, but not so great at deducing their plans. The original Daisy, of course, was both a seducer and a deducer, which is what made her so effective.
Ben Jones, the actor who played Cooter in the original series, has denounced the movie as showing “an arrogant disrespect for our show, for our cast, for America's families, and for the sensibilities of the heartland of our country,” so I expected to be much more offended than I was.
There is sex, but it’s mostly confined to sexual references and nothing too graphic. Willie Nelson is mostly relegated to the unseen end of the CB, and the requisite pot jokes are limited to one, if I remember correctly.
Jones seems to forget that the original show routinely featured Daisy prancing around in a bikini or suspiciously bikini-shaped shorts and tops. If memory serves me, it also featured the Duke boys shirtless on occasion, strutting around in jeans so tight they rivaled Daisy’s. The movie simply imparts to the Dukes themselves the libido their viewers have been indulging all these years.
Knoxville’s Luke is a bit of a cad. His opening scene involves a delivery of moonshine to a local farmer’s shapely daughter, which is a little much, especially right at the beginning of the film. But libertine Luke is leveled out by a Bo that is true to the original hero’s innocence, if a little dim. Scott’s Bo faints at the touch of a woman and is rendered monosyllabic by a high-school crush.
The plot is pure Dukes—predictable, formulaic, and full of slots for car chases. Boss Hogg engages in a little creative eminent domain (must have been before the Kelo decision came down) on Hazzard County farms by planting contraband on the properties so he can confiscate them. In the Dukes’ case, he plants a moonshine still. His discovery is technically “fake but accurate” since the Dukes are moonshiners, but the Dukes apparently don’t subscribe to the Dan Rather standard of evidence, and they decide to foil his plans.
Foiling the plans of course requires racing in the county auto rally against a Jeff Gordon-esque rival in cahoots with Hogg, traveling to Atlanta for a bit of research and big-city hijinks, and gathering the whole gang at the courthouse to oppose Hogg’s plans to strip-mine the county. And, all of it is done to the tune of an inspired soundtrack and the narration of The Balladeer.
The movie is fast-paced and often funny. The General Lee is fast-paced and often airborne. The engine will give you chills when you hear it for the first time in THX. If you’re a hardcore Duke purist, you might not want to be along for the ride. If you’ve got small kids, I’d suggest a test drive before you let them see it. But if you’re just a plain old fan of the Good Ol’ Boys, it’s worth the price of a matinee admission just to see the General fly again.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
I always loathed the show.
perhaps the movie will be worth seeing - if it generates a few honest laughs.
This is encouraging.
Nobody can replace Waylon Jennings, though.
I saw it last week, and I really liked it. You're right that the car is the star of the show, although I really liked Bo and Luke too.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
Sure it is... You read it for the articles too huh?
With Jessica you get 2 good reasons to see the movie :)
The TV series was based on a movie called "Moonrunners".
The studio was ordered to pay the maker of this film 17 million dollars before they could release the movie.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
Jones complained about the langauge and the undermining of the wholesome values of the TV show.
Not having seen the movie I can't speak to the language issue, however I do know that a lot of people tried to have the original TV show censored off the air. Most of the protestors were (sadly) right wingers, especially from the religeous right.
IIRC there were complaints about the Duke boys, Daisy and Uncle Jessie all living together as well as complaints about Daisy's...uh...dukes. Cries about the moral decay on TV were not uncommon. So it's kinda ironic that a lefty like Jones would be making the same claims now regarding the movie.
Plus the TV show was loosely based on Moonrunners which was A LOT DARKER than the TV show although most of the elements were there. I have also heard there really were two re life cousins who were convicted felons for running shine and weren't allowed to have guns. That's how they came up with the dynamite on an arrow deal. BTW the pics I have seen of the supposed real life Dukes showed them as older, overweight, bald fellows who wore Oshkosh b' gosh overalls and lived by themselves deep in the NC woods.
I have seen the movie trailer and thought the movie looked better than I expected. Then I saw the Simpson "Boots are Made for Walkin'" (?! Waht's up wit dat?!) video and backpedeled. It's good to see you liked it...it's definately on my "see" list now.
The only things I don't think I'll like are Waylon's absence - he was almost as big a aprt of the show as The General - and the casting. The boys I can live with...liked Jessica's portrayal in the trailer..I can even let Willie slid as Uncle Jessie. But why the heck do I have to see Linda Carter mugging...Oh I guess I can tolerate that as long there isn't too much. Burt as Boss Hogg just doesn't make it for me though... I would much rather have seen William Shatner as Hogg.
prisoner6
no one in the show came across as anything other than an abject moron.
yanno, never really understood the noise about Jessica Simpson... until I saw that "boots are made for walkin'" video.
rrrrrrrrrrrrowf!
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
Ah, geez....Not again....
This is the "Stars and Bars", the first national (and therefore political) flag of the Confederate States of America:
Note the resemblance to the "Politically Correct" new Georgia State flag. (Most liberals have the historical education of a pet rock.)
This is the Confederate Battle Flag, the symbol of the Confederate soldier. It adorns the top of the General Lee.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
dolts and retards and incompetent buffoons - with the good-guys only marginally sharper than the flatheads to whom they served comeuppance.
prisoner6
You know Hollywood (or conservatism) has reached the bottom of the barrel, when National Review is praising Deuce Bigalow and Townhall is giving high marks to the Dukes of Hazzard.
And our cultural entropy continues...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.