Parents' Guide to

The Dukes of Hazzard

By Cynthia Fuchs, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 14+

Lame update to the popular 1980s TV series.

Movie PG-13 2005 106 minutes
The Dukes of Hazzard Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 13+

Based on 5 parent reviews

Tylyndah
Tylyndah Adult
May 5, 2020
age 12+

Fun and exciting

Great movie lots of fun and excitement!!
Taylor G.
Taylor G. Adult
April 6, 2018
age 8+

really really 16 comon' adults really

if you seriously think this is something to worry about it's not just because the Alabama war flag is displayed is commonly known as the Confederate flag and other than showing belly buttons and a few references you should not be worrying.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
See all 5 parent reviews

What's the Story?

THE DUKES OF HAZZARD is all about the car. The General Lee, a 1969 Dodge Charger that goes fast and makes lots of noise, carts the Duke cousins Bo (Seann William Scott) and Luke (Johnny Knoxville) through Hazzard County, as they deliver Uncle Jesse's (Willie Nelson) moonshine. Bo loves his car, as it provides not only transportation but a sense of identity and invincibility (it wins races and seems to endure any manner of collision and hard landing). The boys are occasionally aided by their curvaceous cousin Daisy (Jessica Simpson), who is able to manipulate every idiot male who comes down that pike -- that would be, every male in sight -- by showing her barely covered rump and cleavage. A feud is started when self-important, greedy county commissioner Boss Hogg (Burt Reynolds) plans to strip-mine the valley. To this end, he grabs the Dukes' farm, has the General Lee totaled, and brings in famous race car driver Billy Prickett (James Roday) to drive in the Hazzard County Rally.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (5):
Kids say (8):

Jay Chandrasekhar's movie is essentially just a lame series of rowdy antics rather than a sustained storyline. It's a string of broadly conceived hillbilly shenanigans, shoot-outs, vehicular mischief and repairs, and guest appearances by the Broken Lizard comedy troupe, Lynda Carter as Pauline, and Joe Don Baker as the Governor.

The movie does offer one awkward "update" of the CBS series, by acknowledging the car's infamous Confederate flag decal: during a brief trip to Atlanta (that is, the Big City), Bo and Luke run into a series of responses to the decal, pro and con, most notably a group of menacing black men in baggy pants upset when they see the cousins are also wearing an accidental blackface, following an explosion that leaves coal on their faces. No surprise, this addition only piles on more stereotypes.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the film's rampant use of stereotypes concerning hillbillies' bad taste and behaviors, sexual voraciousness, and violent excesses. Do such jokes hold up in 2005 (whether or not you laughed at the 1979-1985 CBS series)?

  • What are the effects of the film's ostensible "updates," that is, references to strip-mining, the Confederate flag decal's offensiveness, the uncle's pot-smoking, and the big business of car racing?

Movie Details

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