What can one say about a movie such as "The Dukes of Hazzard"? It is hard to know where to begin; Is it a melancholy allegory about the loss of youthful innocence in the face of the harsh realities of the impersonal modern culture? Yes. Is it relavent to the seemingly futile attempt to preserve an agrarian life in an age where industry is the new paradigm? Yes. Does it capture the gestalt of small town southern life? Yes.

This Object d'art does the above and so much more!

Written by neo-pre-post-retro-modern genius Jonathan Davis this movie takes us through many levels of sheer beauty and sublime irony. The story follows the adventures of "good old boy" cousins, Bo (Seann William Scott) and Luke (Johnny Knoxville) Duke, who with the help of their eye-catching cousin Daisy (Jessica Simpson) and moonshine running Uncle Jesse (Willie Nelson), try and save the family farm from being destroyed by Hazzard County's corrupt commissioner Boss Hogg (Burt Reynolds).

The casting of Burt Reynolds is an especially ironic, yet tragically powerful choice. It invites the viewer to harken back to Burt in 'Smokey and the Bandit' and that scoundrel's flaunting of convention expressed by his defiance of 'The Man' as personnified in the visage of 'Buford T. Justice' (The subtle nuances of that metaphor could fill pages!). Now we see Burt has become 'the oppressive white man'... a metaphor for how seductive the bourgois philosophy of exploitation can be.

No review would be complete without acknowledging the subtle genius that is 'Cooter'. Oh, Cooter, how you make us see the savage irony in our simple lives with your simple observations! He is the 'Estragon' to Boss Hogg's 'Vladimir'- or at least he would be if 'The Dukes of Hazzard' was an existential play written originally in French by Samuel Beckett.

The most stunning performance is by Simpson, who, as Daisy Duke is obviously meant to represent 'Athena' the goddess of wisdom. Her short cutoff shorts clearly symbolize the debasement and devaluation of wisdom in todays consumerist culture. Plus that babe has a seriously hot rack!

As the General Lee soars into oblivion with screams of 'YEEE-HAAAAA', one cannot help but ponder the nihilistic way humanity has thrown itself into the abyss... Yes 'YEEE-HAAAA' indeed...