MOVIEmeter
Top 5000
Down 462 this week

Sweet Home Alabama (2002)

5.9
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 5.9/10 from 57,956 users   Metascore: 45/100
Reviews: 380 user | 98 critic | 35 from Metacritic.com

A young woman with a Southern background runs away from her husband in Alabama and reinvents herself as a New York socialite.

Director:

Writers:

(story), (screenplay)
0Check in
0Share...

Related News

Fool's Gold
| The Hollywood Reporter
Dance Floor Drama for 'Enchanted'
| WENN

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 43 titles created 19 Aug 2011
 
a list of 580 titles created 16 Jul 2011
 
a list of 106 titles created 6 months ago
 
a list of 189 titles created 6 months ago
 
a list of 21 titles created 1 month ago
 

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: Sweet Home Alabama (2002)

Sweet Home Alabama (2002) on IMDb 5.9/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of Sweet Home Alabama.
3 wins & 6 nominations. See more awards »

Videos

Photos

Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

Comedy | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 4.9/10 X  

Mary Fiore is the wedding planner. She's ambitious, hard-working, extremely organized, and she knows exactly what to do and say to make any wedding a spectacular event. Bt when Mary falls (... See full summary »

Director: Adam Shankman
Stars: Jennifer Lopez, Matthew McConaughey, Bridgette Wilson-Sampras
Comedy | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.2/10 X  

Benjamin Barry is an advertising executive and ladies' man who, to win a big campaign, bets that he can make a woman fall in love with him in 10 days. Andie Anderson covers the "How To" beat for "Composure" magazine and is assigned to write an article on "How to Lose a Guy in 10 days." They meet in a bar shortly after the bet is made.

Director: Donald Petrie
Stars: Kate Hudson, Matthew McConaughey, Kathryn Hahn
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7/10 X  

A new kid must find a guy to date the meanest girl in school, the older sister of the girl he has a crush on, who cannot date until her older sister does.

Director: Gil Junger
Stars: Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles, Joseph Gordon-Levitt
27 Dresses (2008)
Comedy | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6/10 X  

After serving as a bridesmaid 27 times, a young woman wrestles with the idea of standing by her sister's side as her sibling marries the man she's secretly in love with.

Director: Anne Fletcher
Stars: Brian Kerwin, Katherine Heigl, James Marsden
Pretty Woman (1990)
Comedy | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.8/10 X  

A man in a legal but hurtful business needs an escort for some social events, and hires a beautiful prostitute he meets... only to fall in love.

Director: Garry Marshall
Stars: Richard Gere, Julia Roberts, Jason Alexander
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.5/10 X  

Ticket collecting romantic pretends to be engaged to an unconscious man but can't fool his brother

Director: Jon Turteltaub
Stars: Sandra Bullock, Bill Pullman, Peter Gallagher
Comedy | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.8/10 X  

A lawyer decides that she's used too much like a nanny by her boss, so she walks out on him.

Director: Marc Lawrence
Stars: Sandra Bullock, Hugh Grant, Alicia Witt
Hitch I (2005)
Comedy | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.6/10 X  

While helping his latest client woo the fine lady of his dreams, a professional "date doctor" finds that his game doesn't quite work on the gossip columnist with whom he's smitten.

Director: Andy Tennant
Stars: Will Smith, Eva Mendes, Kevin James
She's the Man (2006)
Comedy | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.3/10 X  

When her brother decides to ditch for a couple weeks in London, Viola heads over to his elite boarding school, disguises herself as him, and proceeds to fall for one of her soccer teammates. Little does she realize she's not the only one with romantic troubles, as she, as he, gets in the middle of a series of intermingled love affairs.

Director: Andy Fickman
Stars: Amanda Bynes, Channing Tatum, Laura Ramsey
The Holiday (2006)
Comedy | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.8/10 X  

Two women troubled with guy-problems swap homes in each other's countries, where they each meet a local guy and fall in love.

Director: Nancy Meyers
Stars: Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law
Comedy | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.9/10 X  

Anna Foster has never had an ordinary life. At eighteen years old, she is the most protected girl in America; she is the First Daughter. Frustrated with her overprotective father, the ... See full summary »

Director: Andy Cadiff
Stars: Mandy Moore, Stark Sands, Mark Harmon
One Fine Day (1996)
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.3/10 X  

Melanie Parker, an architect and mother of Sammy, and Jack Taylor, a newspaper columnist and father of Maggie, are both divorced. They meet one morning when overwhelmed Jack is left ... See full summary »

Director: Michael Hoffman
Stars: Michelle Pfeiffer, George Clooney, Mae Whitman
Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Eldon
...
Clinton
Edit

Storyline

Melanie Carmichael, an up and rising fashion designer in New York, has gotten almost everything she wished for since she was little. She has a great career and the JFK-like fiancée of New York City. But when he proposes to her, she doesn't forget about her family back down South. More importantly, her husband back there, who refuses to divorce her ever since she sent divorce papers seven years ago. To set matters straight, she decides to go to the south quick and make him sign the papers. When things don't turn out the way she planned them, she realizes that what she had before in the south was far more perfect than the life she had in New York City. Written by kay

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

Fall... in love. See more »

Genres:

Comedy | Romance

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some language/sexual references | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
Edit

Details

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

27 September 2002 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

No me olvides  »

Filming Locations:

 »

Box Office

Budget:

$38,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$198,788 (Japan) (13 June 2003)

Gross:

$526,003 (Japan) (20 June 2003)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

| |

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

During the movie's filming at Starr's Mill in Fayette County, Georgia, the Starr's Mill High School marching band was asked not to practice outdoors due to the sound carrying all the way to the Mill. See more »

Goofs

When lightning strikes sand, or sandy soil, it fuses the sand into a glass-like solid mass known as a "fulgurite." Real fulgurites are usually partially hollow tube-like structures having a granular exterior. The clear glass objects shown in this film are not likely to have been created by lightning. See more »

Quotes

Melanie Carmichael: [on her cell phone] I can't. I'm in Alabama.
Tabatha Wadmore-Smith: [in New York] Oh... my God.
See more »

Crazy Credits

During the end credits some photos are shown with the cast. In a sequence of them Melanie's parents are "scared" by a punk with a pierced tongue, Mel's co-worker from the beginning of the movie, who comments on her accent when she dreams. See more »

Connections

Referenced in After Lately: A-list BFF (2011) See more »

Soundtracks

"What This World Needs Is a Few More Rednecks"
Written by Charlie Daniels, Taz Di Gregorio (as William DiGregorio), Charlie Hayward (as Charles Hayward), and John Gavin
Performed by The Charlie Daniels Band
Courtesy of Epic Records
By Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.

User Reviews

 
A great story of discovering ones self and realizing true love.
11 July 2006 | by (United States) – See all my reviews

"Sweet Home Alabama" is about a young woman, Melanie Carmichael (Reese Witherspoon), who is learning who she is. She must choice between her new life in New York City and the one she left behind in Pigeon Creek, Alabama. The theme of the film is that you can't be two different people; you have to be who you are. You have to face your life and your past and not pretend that you are someone you're not.

The city versus country motif is brought to life throughout the entire film in such actions as a civil war re-enactment, shooting anvils across the plantation yard, and a diverse, yet, predictable group of characters residing in Melanie's hometown. This is far from her world in New York City where she is a fashion designer, engaged to the mayor's son, Andrew Hennings (Patrick Dempsey), and lives life in the fast lane.

The city versus country conflict begins when Melanie returns home to finalize her divorce from her lovable, redneck husband Jake Perry (Josh Lucas). The laughs continue when, much to Mayor Kate Hennings (Candice Bergen) dismay, Melanie and Andrew decide to have their wedding in Alabama. Mayor Hennings is a stiff, conservative ice queen. This makes the first meeting of the happy couples' parents, Mayor Hennings and Pearl and Earl Smooter (Mary Kay Place and Fred Ward), incredibly predictable, yet, still hilarious when you see it play out.

As she was in "Legally Blonde" and "Just Like Heaven", Witherspoon is sweet, smart, and sassy. She pulls you into the film, and you want to see her happy. She has great chemistry with both Jake and Andrew, which makes it difficult for viewers to decide which she should be with. Melanie, herself, can't decide who is for her until she decides who she is.

Director Andy Tennant masterfully uses music to contribute to the theme. With the use of songs such as "Sweet Home Alabama," "What This World Needs Is a Few More Rednecks," and "Marry Me," he transports you into the south. This music prompts you to root for the south and the southern girl who has just returned home. Tennant, also, impressively did not over use the song "Sweet Home Alabama." He used the song only in the situations were it would make the largest impact.

Tennant shows in "Sweet Home Alabama", as he did in "Ever After", that love just happens and we can't control love any more than we can control who we really are. In "Sweet Home Alabama", all of Melanie's problems seem to stem from the fact that she cannot face who she really is. Her father sum's up the theme of the movie in one statement, "You can't ride two horses with one ass, sugar bean."


15 of 23 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
Why do people like these kind of romantic stories? cfhussain20
Who all lives in the south? caharrell63
plot hole mjcjnthomas
Piggly Wiggly never runs out of soap! georgiaboy107
Was Anyone From Alabama Offended by this Movie??? kerryandtodd
Did Bobby Ray have a crush on Melanie? valcee
Discuss Sweet Home Alabama (2002) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page

Create a character page for:
?