The Dukes of Hazzard, the big-screen remake of the popular TV show, is pure trash. The plot is pure hokum, the acting is laughable, and Jessica Simpson is out-acted by her shorts. Yes, the film is pretty bad. But somehow, through all the crassness, it gets to 'so bad it's good' status. The Dukes of Hazzard is probably the very definition of the film cliché 'a guilty pleasure' The plot is real simple stuff. The dastardly tycoon Boss Hogg (Burt Reynolds) is buying up all the land of Hazzard county and has a dastardly plan for said land. It's up to the Duke cousins to foil said dastardly plot by throwing punches, driving very fast and screeching yee-haw a lot. Meanwhile cousin Daisy Duke walks around in very short shorts and smiles a lot. That is about all that needs to be said about the plot – if it can be called that. Simple would be an understatement, yet there is even a narrator the help the hard of understanding along. In amongst that are car races, bar room brawls and lots of scantily-clad (or sometimes not at all clad) nubile young ladies – the plot obviously sponsored by Zoo magazine.
Johnny Knoxville and Sean William Scott are the Duke cousins, and seem to be in competition with each other for who can overact the most – a competition Scott just about shades. Jessica Simpson meanwhile is little better than decoration, her acting at times cringingly bad. Burt Reynolds on the other hand is clearly having a whale of a time as pantomime villain Boss Hogg, with more ham on show than the entire cast of Animal Farm. The supporting cast just play along with the standard country hick stereotypes – dumb blondes and rednecks, with little real character development of anyone to invest in.
Predictable almost to the extent that the screenplay writes itself, with plot curves really telegraphed, but in amongst the predictability is a slight but enjoyable story. The film is almost literally a pantomime for adults, or at least teenagers, complete with car chases and scantily-clad women. And at the end of a hard day at the office, a simple enjoyable film can be just what the doctor ordered.
