When we were little, my brother, Emmett (Zig), and I would play "Dukes of Hazzard." I was always Bo and Zig was always Luke. Grandpa was always Uncle Jesse.
This was before we moved away from the reservation, when Grandma and Grandpa lived on Dump Road (now called Plantation Road) in the green house. Grandpa had an old red car in the yard. I'm not even sure the thing had wheels, but I remember that it had a dirty, white interior and no windows in the doors.
It was through these windows that little Zig and little Selina would jump, pretending we were the Dukes of Hazzard County.
Now, our daydreams have again come to life, this time on the big screen in the new film "Dukes of Hazzard." It stars Sean William Scott and Johnny Knoxville as Bo and Luke Duke; Willie Nelson as Uncle Jesse and Jessica Simpson as Daisy Duke.
When Uncle Jesse is nabbed for making moonshine, the Dukes band together to uncover Boss Hog's (Burt Reynolds) real plan to strip mine Hazzard County. But, can Bo and Luke stop corrupt county commissioner Boss Hogg and his bumbling sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane (M.C. Gainey) in time for Bo to win the annual Hazzard car race?
Together, the cousins must elude police in their famed 1969 orange Dodge Charger, named the "General Lee." Their mechanic friend, Cooter (David Koechner) soups up the "General Lee" for the big race, but the miraculous revamp of the car comes quite in handy on the lengthy police chases.
Now, I wasn't expecting much out of this movie. The old TV shows are classic and nothing could ever touch them, but the film wasn't too bad. Bo and Luke were a little too crazy and not as serious as the original, but Knoxville and Scott played their parts well.
All in all, it was a pretty funny film that offered a lot of cool car chases and crazy-undercarriage-massacring-jumps in the "General Lee."
"Dukes of Hazzard" is rated PG-13 "for sexual content, crude and drug-related humor, language and comic action violence," so isn't recommended for younger viewers. It is, of course, based on the popular TV show of the same name that ran from 1979 to 1985, but has enjoyed a long life in syndication and cable reruns.
Like I said, this was a pretty good film, not nearly as good as the TV series, but about as good as it can come to portraying the "good 'ol boys" of fictional Hazzard County, Ga. If you liked the series, you're pretty much required to see this movie, at least for the chance to see the old "General Lee" in action again, so it doesn't really matter what I think, does it?
The other two films I saw this week were "Stealth" and "Must Love Dogs."
"Stealth" starred Josh Lucas, Jessica Biel and Jamie Foxx as an elite trio of fighter pilots, chosen to fly a new type of Stealth jet.
When their commander, Capt. Cummings (Sam Shepard), says he's introducing a new wingman, the three are less than thrilled with the idea, even more so when they learn the new guy is UCAV (Unmanned Combat Arial Vehicle). The computer-controlled aircraft, called "Tinman" and "Edie," has a "brain" that learns at an astronomical rate. When it decides it's really the best man for the job of fighting terrorists, it goes rogue and selects a target.
Now, the original three pilots must stop Edie before it can harm anyone.
This was an okay movie. It wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible either. It had some really cool special effects, but I couldn't really enjoy it because I kept getting distracted by the cheesy dialogue.
"Stealth" is rated PG-13 "for intense action, some violence, brief strong language and innuendo," so is only recommended for mature viewers.
"Must Love Dogs" stars Diane Lane as a recently divorced woman, Sarah, whose family is bent on finding her love. In a fit of unrestrained meddling, Sarah's sister uploads her profile to an Internet love site. Thus Sarah meets Jake (John Cusack), a recently divorced boat builder who has a witty sense of humor.
I went to this film with my mother-in-law, Judy, and my sister-in-law, Wendy. We all agreed that this was a good movie. It was cute and simple and endearing and sweet. In other words, it was a classic chick-flick.
"Must Love Dogs" is rated PG-13 "for sexual content," so isn't recommended for younger viewers.
Coming to theaters in the next couple of weeks are "Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo," "Four Brothers," "The Great Raid," "Skeleton Key," "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," "Red Eye," "Supercross" and "Valiant."
Selina Vert is editor of Bay Mills News.
