The Dukes of Hazzard (2005)

The Dukes of Hazzard is a 2005 American action comedy road film loosely based on the television series of the same name. The film was directed by Jay Chandrasekhar and released on August 5, 2005, by Warner Bros. Pictures. As in the television series, the film depicts the adventures of cousins Bo, Luke, and Daisy, and their Uncle Jesse, as they outfox crooked Hazzard County Commissioner Boss Hogg and Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane.

The film was the acting debut of pop singer Jessica Simpson. While financially successful with an opening debut of 30 million and a worldwide gross of 111 million, the film met with generally negative reviews from critics.

Plot
Bo and Luke Duke are southern cousins in Hazzard County and they help their Uncle Jesse and their sexy cousin Daisy run the Moonshine business and always getting into trouble with Sherriff Roscoe P. Coltrane and recklessly driving in their orange car, "General Lee". Boss Hogg, the mean and corrupt local county commissioner who hates The Dukes evicts The Dukes from their farm. Bo and Duke travels to Atlanta and meets up with old friend Katie Johnson and her friend Annette as they set out to find out why Boss Hogg has evicted them from their farm and what he plans to do. With local race car driver Billy Prickett in town to take part in the Annual Hazzard Road Race rally, Bo and Luke sets out to save their farm and foil Boss Hogg's scheme.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The story is very weak.
 * 2) Multiple plot holes.
 * 3) Flat characterization.
 * 4) There's little faith to the source material.
 * 5) Unfunny and inappropriate jokes in a film based on a show that was family-friendly such as making the character of Daisy Duke more overtly sexual than she was in the TV show.
 * 6) None of the original cast members make appearances in the film.
 * 7) Burt Reynolds was miscasted as Boss Hogg since he doesn't appear overweight like in the show.
 * 8) A bunch of scenes drag on for quite some time.
 * 9) Unexplained reason: Why did there need to be a scene that took place in the city? The show is set in the rural community of Hazzard County.
 * 10) The Dukes' antics get rather extreme in the movie. For example: Jesse throws a Molotov cocktail at a sheriff's car and Luke rams Boss Hogg's car into a blockade of police cruisers.
 * 11) Product placement like the Tonka Truck toys. However, it was only mentioned instead of having an actual physical appearance.

Good Qualities

 * 1) The General Lee is still an awesome car.
 * 2) The chase scenes are pretty awesome and entertaining.
 * 3) Some of the jokes are pretty funny.
 * 4) The soundtracks are good.
 * 5) Jessica Simpson is very hot in the movie.
 * 6) It can be considered a "so bad it's good" movie.
 * 7) The race between Prickett and Bo Duke can be entertaining. (depending on your view)
 * 8) Broken Lizard made appearances as either cameos or supporting roles. Heck, Jay Chandrasekhar and Erik Stolhanske reprised their roles here from Super Troopers.

Reception
The film currently holds a 14% on Rotten Tomatoes with an average rating of 3.6/10 and a critic consensus that reads "A dumb, goofy, and vacuous adaptation of a TV show where plot is simply an excuse to string together the car chases." Both Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper gave it a "thumbs down". Richard Roeper deemed the film as the worst film of 2005 while Roger Ebert deemed it the second worst film of that year.

Box Office
The film was released on August 5, 2005, and opened up at #1 on its opening weekend making a domestic gross of $30,675,314. The total domestic gross was $80,270,227. In foreign markets, it made $30,799,288. Overall, the film made $111,069,515 against its $50 million budget.

Awards and nominations
The film was nominated for seven Golden Raspberry Awards for Worst Picture, Worst Director, Worst Screenplay, Worst Supporting Actor, Worst Supporting Actress, and Worst Remake or Sequel. The film lost all of the Razzies to Dirty Love.

Trivia

 * The original Dukes - Tom Wopat, John Schneider, and Catherine Bach - were all offered cameos in this film, but declined because they read the screenplay and hated it.
 * Britney Spears, Mandy Moore, and Jessica Biel were all considered for the role of Daisy.
 * John Goodman and Danny DeVito both turned down the role of Boss Hogg.