The Dukes of Hazzard

Written by: Xil

Things in Hazzard County just haven't been quite right since Jay Chandrasekhar moved into town. The remake of the classic hit show has all of the ingredients--bright orange '69 Dodge Charger, dumbfounded humour, and some specatcular chase scenes, but still comes off much like Betwitched or Scooby Doo did, appearing as a poor attempt at trying to grab a little of the charisma that film producers hoped would be raised by bringing back old classics.

The original Dukes of Hazzard ran on American Television from 1979 to 1985. The show centered around two cousins, Bo and Luke Duke, who had little care for the law but always had their hearts in the right place. The show's light humour and action sequences made it an instant hit, staying in syndication even today.

The movie stars Seann William Scott and Johnny Knoxville as Bo and Luke Duke respectively. The movie also serves as the debut of Jessica Simpson's acting career...if you can call it that. Also contributing to the film and the soundtrack is the legendary Willie Nelson, who plays the duke's wisecracking Uncle Jessie.

Both Knoxville and Scott pull off their roles well; the characters are about as 3D as the original TV show had them, but neither really excites more than the big crashes and sometimes cute comedy. All 15 of Jessica Simpon's lines were OK, but my advice would be to stick to the singing, she's far more suited for that.

By far the best part of the movie were the chase scenes. With new innovations in filming over the last years, the scenes were greatly enhanced and vividly filmed. If anything, although the movie did not capture much of the euphoria of "back in the day", it stood its own as good comedy. The movie's plot is well written and differs greatly from the original TV show. Focussing more around the characters of Hazzard County than just the cousins, the film successfully allows the entire cast to play a large role. However, despite the creativity of the plot, the movie still lacks the luster that its silver screen sister had.

If you're looking for some pretty cool driving scenes, some cute humour and a nice story about two cousins just trying to make their way, check out Dukes of Hazzard in theatres today.