A witless romp.By John DeSando, WCBE's
The Dukes of Hazzard is a witless romp in a Dodge Charger, General Lee, with two adolescent men outwitting an inept but good ol? boy sheriff and his boss, Boss Hogg, played by a miscast Burt Reynolds.
But the movie is fun if you let it be all it is, which is not much. This updated version of the late ?70?s TV show is an audience pleaser, not just for Jessica Simpson?s skimpy outfits, but also for the inane antics that hotrodding, irresponsible hillbillies do repetitiously.The redeeming social value of the film, besides highlighting the stereotyping of Southerners, is the ill will toward a coal mining industry that threatens to strip mine the entire town, actually not a bad idea if the movie went that way as well.
The freeze frames are all there, the legendary 1969 Dodge is well tuned, and a lesser actor than Denver Pyle, Willie Nelson, is Uncle Jesse. Burt Reynolds has a tough time matching Sorrell Brook?s overblown, conniving Boss Hogg .
The General Lee is a durable car; the TV show and the film may have that same durability for an undemanding audience that may not know its pigs from its pokes.
John DeSando teaches film at Franklin University and co-hosts WCBE's "It's Movie Time," which can be heard streaming at www.wcbe.org Fridays at 3:01 pm and 8:01 pm. Contact him at JDeSando@Columbus.RR.com