The Dukes Of Hazzard

YEEEE Haaaaawww! The Dukes Of Hazzard is an (overused) catchphrase desperately in search of a decent movie.

There are only so many times you can listen to fun-loving cousins Bo (Scott) and Luke Duke (Knoxville) scream with rootin' tootin' delight before you long for a return to the golden age of silent films.

And while the car chases are certainly thrilling in this unabashedly stupid revamp of the cult Eighties television series, there has to be more to life than staring at the back end of The General Lee, the boys' iconic orange '69 Dodge Chaser, as it skids around the same back roads and dirt tracks.

When Hazzard County's corrupt and devious commissioner Boss Hogg (Reynolds) unlawfully seizes the Duke family farm and neighbouring properties, Bo and Luke hatch a daredevil plan to outwit him and his badge-wielding cohorts.

Aided by their sexy, denim shorts-clad cousin Daisy (Simpson) and moonshinerunning Uncle Jesse (Willie Nelson), the boys run rings around Hogg and Co in The General Lee.

However, the wily commissioner has a few tricks up his sleeve to ensure the Duke boys' plans come to naught.

The Dukes Of Hazzard pays tribute to its small-screen inspiration almost from the opening frame, including a honeytoned narrator who welcomes us to Hazzard County where "everything moves a little bit slower, unless your name is Duke".

Any obvious similarities with the TV series end there.

Jay Chadrasekhar's fast-driving remake is a witless exercise in lowest-common-denominator humour, pitched at the Dude, Where's My Car? crowd. Scott and Knoxville play their do-gooders as a pair of goofy hicks with barely two brain cells to rub together.

They fit perfectly into the film, along with Reynolds' pantomime villain, who tells the boys his dastardly plan so they will know exactly how to stop him.

Daisy serves no dramatic purpose whatsoever - she is a teenage boy's wet dream in shorts cut so high she must chafe terribly in hot weather.

Simpson's clumsy acting is a marvel, along with her abortive cover version of These Boots Are Made For Walkin' on the soundtrack. Nancy Sinatra should sue.

The Dukes Of Hazzard's end credits include a compilation of out-takes - fluffed lines, unplanned high-speed crashes and Knoxville exposing parts of his anatomy to his gigglish co-star.

Director Chadrasekhar bucks the trend, however, by daring to include all of the film's funniest moments in these off-cuts rather than in the finished edit.

It's a clever and calculated ploy: Make the audience laugh just as they file out of the cinema debating whether to ask for a refund.

Uncle Willie would approve.