Dukes of Hazard again 2005-Jessica Simson as Daisy

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The Stax Report: Script Review of The Dukes of Hazzard
A look at the new big-screen update of the TV series.

November 16, 2004 - Stax here with a review of the screenplay for The Dukes of Hazzard! This 123-page draft is dated Oct. 24, 2004. The big-screen version of the 1979-85 TV series stars Seann William Scott, Johnny Knoxville, Jessica Simpson, Burt Reynolds, and Willie Nelson. Jay Chandrasekhar (Club Dread, Super Troopers) is directing from a script he co-wrote with his fellow members of the Broken Lizard comedy troupe. Filming is now underway in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Warner Brothers has slated the film for release on July 29th, 2005.


My own personal take on how I'd bring The Dukes to the big-screen can be found here. (Incidentally, how many of you knew that The Dukes was inspired by a 1975 film called Moonrunners? I didn't.)

The Dukes of Hazzard obviously focuses on the Duke family of Hazzard County, Georgia who have (not so secretly) been in the moonshine business for over a hundred years. The two good ol' boys of the show's theme song – Bo (Scott) and Luke (Knoxville) – carry on this bootlegging tradition, much to the chagrin of the corrupt "Boss" Jefferson Hogg (Reynolds) and his right-hand man, Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane.

Bo and Luke live on the farm of their Uncle Jesse (Nelson), a kindly but mischievous old-timer. Their drop-dead sexy cousin Daisy Duke (Simpson) works as a barmaid at Boss Hogg's roadhouse The Boar's Nest, which is the only legit bar in the county. She constantly uses her good looks to pry information from Rosco's dim-witted but sweet deputy, Enos Strate, that helps the wily Bo and Luke stay one step ahead of the law. They occasionally receive aid from mechanic (and Civil War re-enactor) Cooter and the touched-in the-head Sheev.

The usual cat-and-mouse antics between the Dukes and the law takes a shocking and tragic turn when Boss Hoss has Uncle Jesse gunned down in cold blood ... just kidding. No, the ever-scheming Boss Hogg has been cracking down on alleged moonshiners, using his authority to seize their land, farms that have been in families for generations. Problem is, only the Dukes are moonshiners; Hogg is simply framing innocent folks and seizing their land but for what purpose? That's what them Duke boys aim to find out, especially now that they're fugitives with the future of the family farm at stake.

Bo and Luke's quest requires them to look up a childhood friend, Katie Johnson, who now attends college in Atlanta. Both Bo and Luke were sweet on Katie once upon a time but they'll come to find out that life in the big city sure has changed her. The Dukes' race to save the day literally turns into one in Act Three, with a climactic set piece involving the annual Hazzard Road Rally featuring some Nascar drivers.

There's plenty of slapstick in this draft, with Bo and Luke constantly horsing around and playing pranks on one another like the overgrown kids they are. This schtick was amusing to read but I'm sure it'll play much better onscreen. Both Knoxville and Scott are certainly adept at slapstick, and Chandrasekhar's past efforts demonstrate he knows how to showcase such humor. Indeed, hiring the Broken Lizard troupe to bring The Dukes to the big-screen might prove to be the best decision made regarding this project.





-JoBlo

Jessica Simpson as Daisy, Johnny Knoxville as Luke, and Seann William Scott as Bo Duke.


The story itself is simple enough, a comedic take on the familiar Western plot of greedy land barons running settlers off their land/robbing poor folks who can't defend themselves. The only ones who can fight back are the amiable populist outlaw protagonists. This is a thoroughly American theme, the kind of Robin Hood-esque myth that has given us such folk hero bandits as Jesse James and Pretty Boy Floyd. But that's probably far more historical context than The Dukes of Hazzard merits ...

Overall, I found The Dukes of Hazzard to be harmless fluff. It's admittedly dumb and trite but how could one expect anything else? It was better than I anticipated but still not in the league of such bad boys on the run comedy classics as The Blues Brothers and Smokey and the Bandit. Still, it was certainly no Dude, Where's My General Lee?. – STAX

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