The Dukes of Hazzard: (Nathan Barr) You really have
to wonder how such terrible films like this can actually turn immensely
huge profits. It's frightening to think what people in India think of
America and its inhabitants when this film plays overseas ("
these
people currently rule the earth?"), and it's almost as frightful to
think what American city-dwelling liberals with college educations think
about it either ("
these people still exist?"). Based on the the
popular television show of the same name from 1979 through 1985,
The
Dukes of Hazzard is about two cousins who run a moonshine business
and another one who waitresses in a bar, all of which happens in the
backroads of Georgia. The whole point of
The Dukes of Hazzard was
to exhibit "General Lee," a 1969 Dodge Charger with the Confederate flag
painted on the roof. It flies over ditches, rivers, and ravines, outruns
angry semi-truck drivers, and eludes police in every mind-boggling
fashion... never seeming to break all that moonshine that they're
trafficking. Redefining the word "hick" for the modern era (the setting
of the film has been updated to modern times, including the mandatory
NASCAR race scene), the film puts Willie Nelson and Burt Reynolds in
funny, smaller roles. But most of the attention in
The Dukes of
Hazzard involved the brainless Jessica Simpson, who does justice to
the "land of short shorts" with her own physical specimen of a body on
display. Ironically, when the film got trashed by nearly every reputable
critic, one of the gripes about it was that Simpson's appearances in
those infamous shorts are far too few. The lameness of the show didn't
stop director Jay Chandrasekhar (whose family, just to make a connection
to the comment about India above, is from Southern India) from
translating that lameness directly into the film; in fact, he seems to
have intentionally done so in every regard, including the musical score.
This is his second collaboration with composer Nathan Barr, whose
credits include
Club Dread and
Cabin Fever. And Barr, too,
sounded like he had a whole lot of fun with this project.
And that's the key. If you can't hear anything fun in
this Southern rock and bluegrass score, then there's no point in even
paying attention to it. To Barr's great credit, what he has done here is
perfectly adapt
The Dukes of Hazzard into a big-league style of
score, taking his own dash of lameness and very effectively providing a
score that highlights the good times on camera. With performances by ZZ
Top's Billy Gibbons on guitar, the guitar-heavy classic rock score also
lays on the fiddle, acoustic guitar, and a bass harmonica with such
heaviness that it walks a fine line between parody and an actual,
serious intent. Every beat seemingly has a tap (or downright bash) of
the cymbals, and the rhythms roll along with a jolliness that can only
lead to a bar brawl. The guitar riffs and vocals for the car itself in
"The General Lee" are downright hilarious. So consistent is the score
that the irritation that it might cause in its total saturation of
location is compensated by its strong consistency of that same genre
application. For the mood that it creates, it rolls along with ease,
creating a listening experience that is surprisingly enjoyable. That
said, there are few people who will be able to tolerate Barr's music
outside of the equally hokey visuals. But Barr, for having graduated
quickly from the Hans Zimmer camp, shows considerable talent in his
ability to throw himself so deeply and effectively in the genre. The
score itself was never released commercially. The regular album for
The Dukes of Hazzard was a compilation of Southern rock and
countrified versions of other various songs, including performances by
Jessica Simpson and Willie Nelson and the more inspiring Allman
Brothers. No score material appeared on that album. A pressed
promotional release with only Barr's music was released in October of
2005, including a few cues that didn't make the final cut of the film.
Hardcore collectors might be interested in a previous CDr promo released
by the composer in July of 2005 which included four extra minutes of
music beyond the pressed promo. The latter album rearranged and combined
cues into a better listening experience, though, and includes full
packaging and notes. Overall, Barr's promo is a highly targeted album
that does what it's meant to do: highlights the composer's talents,
whether you can tolerate the actual genre of music or not.
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The insert includes a list of performers and notes about both the film and score.
