**Warning! Spoilers Ahead!**
First off, I'm a guy, and "chick flicks" such as this aren't my thing at all. So for me to say that "Sweet Home Alabama" was mostly watchable is a compliment.
From seeing the trailers and the opening scene, any experience movie-goer could predict the plot outline, so the effectiveness of this movie really depends more on the appeal of the characters. In that regard, Reese Witherspoon is very good. All-American good looks, a little attitude, and that touch of a Southern accent that all guys love.
But even she can't upgrade the movie to 'good' status. It runs fifteen minutes too long, as scattered short scenes throughout the movie are awkward and unnecessary. Scenes like the faux tour of her mansion, finding her father in the battle, and a past story about a cat.
**Double Warning!! Major Spoilers Ahead!!**
The root problem of "Sweet Home Alabama" though is its simple predictability. Almost nothing is surprising. A few of the requisite South jokes work, primarily if you've ever spent time there, but for the most part they're as cliche as the movie.
If the movie had really wanted to be something, Witherspoon's character would have made the non-Hollywood cliche decision, or at least fused career and her past better. Would someone with such a bright future really choose to walk away from much of that? Isn't there a compromise to be made between love and life? Telling that story would truly have been emotional, perhaps a genuine tear-jerker, and movie that would have connected with an even broader audience.
Bottom Line: The director takes no chances. Potential is wasted, and a potentially ground-breaking movie is merely servicable. 5 out of 10.
First off, I'm a guy, and "chick flicks" such as this aren't my thing at all. So for me to say that "Sweet Home Alabama" was mostly watchable is a compliment.
From seeing the trailers and the opening scene, any experience movie-goer could predict the plot outline, so the effectiveness of this movie really depends more on the appeal of the characters. In that regard, Reese Witherspoon is very good. All-American good looks, a little attitude, and that touch of a Southern accent that all guys love.
But even she can't upgrade the movie to 'good' status. It runs fifteen minutes too long, as scattered short scenes throughout the movie are awkward and unnecessary. Scenes like the faux tour of her mansion, finding her father in the battle, and a past story about a cat.
**Double Warning!! Major Spoilers Ahead!!**
The root problem of "Sweet Home Alabama" though is its simple predictability. Almost nothing is surprising. A few of the requisite South jokes work, primarily if you've ever spent time there, but for the most part they're as cliche as the movie.
If the movie had really wanted to be something, Witherspoon's character would have made the non-Hollywood cliche decision, or at least fused career and her past better. Would someone with such a bright future really choose to walk away from much of that? Isn't there a compromise to be made between love and life? Telling that story would truly have been emotional, perhaps a genuine tear-jerker, and movie that would have connected with an even broader audience.
Bottom Line: The director takes no chances. Potential is wasted, and a potentially ground-breaking movie is merely servicable. 5 out of 10.