The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning (TV 2007)

Teenaged cousins Bo and Luke Duke spend their first few weeks in Hazzard County getting into trouble running outlawed liquor in order to save their Uncle Jesse's farm.

Director:

Robert Berlinger

Writer:

Shane Morris

Stars:

Jonathan Bennett, Randy Wayne, April Scott

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jonathan Bennett	...	Bo Duke
Randy Wayne	...	Luke Duke
April Scott	...	Daisy Duke
Joel David Moore	...	Cooter (as Joel Moore)
Harland Williams	...	Rosco P. Coltrane
Sherilyn Fenn	...	Lulu Hogg
Christopher McDonald	...	Jefferson Davis 'Boss' Hogg
Willie Nelson	...	Uncle Jesse Duke
Todd Grinnell	...	Hughie
Adam Shulman	...	Enos
Trishelle Cannatella	...	Ally Handy
Jennifer Hill	...	Brooke Handy
Gary Cole	...	Balladeer (voice)
Rufus Dorsey	...	DMV Examiner
Joe Gieb	...	Carnival Midget

Storyline

Cousins Bo, Luke and Daisy are sent to Hazzard County, Georgia for the first time to live with their Uncle Jesse. Jesse is a farmer and a moonshiner and is constantly battling his old rival Boss Hogg who is the corrupt city commissioner of the small town. This film is a prequel set before the time period established in the 1979 Hit TV Series.

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Plot Keywords:

prequel | waterhole | female rear nudity | undressing | sequel | 

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Taglines:

These are the Duke boys... from the beginning

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexual humor and dialogue

Details

Official Sites:

ABC Family [us] Official site [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 March 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Dukes of Hazzard 2

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Premiere, Gerber Pictures, Hollywood Media Bridge

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the scene at the town square where Boss Hogg is about to give an election speech, the narrator says that Boss Hogg's favorite saying is "Vote early and vote often." This saying actually exists and is attributed to "Big" Bill Thompson, the notoriously corrupt mayor of Chicago during the 1920's who was bought off by Al Capone. Whenever possible, Capone would rig the Chicago elections in order to ensure Thompson's victory.

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Goofs

The car that Bo finds in the water is clearly not a Dodge Charger. When he's by the door you can clearly see the door has a window frame. Dodge Chargers have frameless windows.

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Quotes

Balladeer: [from trailer] Bo's first chase; Luke's first time; Daisy's first Dukes... Rosco gets his badge; Boss Hogg starts the feud; and Uncle Jesse gives advice

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Crazy Credits

We can see many outtakes during the end credits.

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Connections

References The Lion King (1994)

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Soundtracks

"Duke Boys Swingin'"
Written by John Anderson, Lionel Delmore and Troy Coleman
Performed by Cowboy Troy and John Anderson
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Records Inc.
By Arrangement with Warner Music Group Film & TV Licensing

User Reviews

The Beginning

I've never watched the original Dukes of Hazzard TV series, so I don't know if the 2005 feature film was inferior to the show, but at least it contained somewhat entertaining car chases and a few chuckle-inducing jokes if not much more. The made-for-TV prequel is basically more of the same with a less famous cast and fewer funny scenes.

The story is set in the teenage years of Bo and Luke Duke (Jonathan Bennett and Randy Wayne) and recounts how they first met each other and got involved in the moonshining business in the rural Hazzard County in the southern USA. A local politician Boss Hogg (Christopher McDonald) is blackmailing the boys' uncle Jesse (Willie Nelson) to give up his liquor business but Bo and Luke decide to put an end to such plans, all the while chasing girls and poking fun at the inept sheriff (Harland Williams) in various ways. In addition to the origin of the boys' friendship, we also get to witness the birth of General Lee and the transformation of Daisy Duke (April Scott) from a nerdy wallflower to her famous sexy self.

Most of the 2005 film's main cast doesn't return, and sadly the new actors are no match for the old ones. The two stars are quite bland, and Joel Moore as their mechanic friend Cooter is more annoying than funny. Christopher McDonald is alright in his angry role though, even if his performance is inevitably overshadowed by that of Burt Reynolds in the first film. As a refreshing exception, country music legend Willie Nelson does reprise his role as Jesse, delivering by far the funniest lines in the movie. Besides telling amusing jokes and anecdotes, he also gets to play a couple of songs in a party scene.

The humour is mostly very clichéd and unimaginative. The cross dressing, toilet humour and female nudity failed to entertain me much as it's obvious that the writers haven't even tried to think of any new ways of presenting the same old gags. The series trademark car chases and jumps are automatically slightly entertaining though. Still, the action scenes and Willie Nelson aren't enough to save the movie from being a dull cash-in entry in a series that doesn't look like it was full of masterpieces in the first place. My expectations were so low that I wasn't really disappointed, but I certainly don't recommend The Beginning for anyone but the biggest fans of the first feature film.