Sweet Home Alabama (2002)

A young woman who's reinvented herself as a New York socialite must return home to Alabama to obtain a divorce from her husband, after seven years of separation.

Director:

Andy Tennant

Writers:

Douglas J. Eboch (story), C. Jay Cox (screenplay)

Stars:

Reese Witherspoon, Patrick Dempsey, Josh Lucas

3 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Reese Witherspoon	...	Melanie Smooter
Josh Lucas	...	Jake Perry
Patrick Dempsey	...	Andrew Hennings
Candice Bergen	...	Mayor Kate Hennings
Mary Kay Place	...	Pearl Smooter
Fred Ward	...	Earl Smooter
Jean Smart	...	Stella Kay Perry
Ethan Embry	...	Bobby Ray
Melanie Lynskey	...	Lurlynn
Courtney Gains	...	Sheriff Wade
Mary Lynn Rajskub	...	Dorothea
Rhona Mitra	...	Tabatha Wadmore-Smith
Nathan Lee Graham	...	Frederick Montana
Sean Bridgers	...	Eldon
Fleet Cooper	...	Clinton

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.

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Plot Keywords:

divorce | husband wife relationship | gay friend | new york city | alabama | 

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Taglines:

Sometimes What You're Looking For Is Right Where You Left It.

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some language/sexual references

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 September 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

Melanie's Getting Married

Filming Locations:

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$38,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$35,648,740, 29 September 2002, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$127,223,418

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$53,399,006

Company Credits

Production Co:

Touchstone Pictures, Original Film, D&D Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Oak Hill, the real name of the house Melanie pretends belongs to her family, is difficult to get to, as the interstate is approximately forty-five minutes away. To direct cast and crew members to the site, yellow signs simply saying "SWA" with arrows pointed out the correct route were put up. Some Berry College students stole these signs as movie mementos.

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Goofs

When the wedding guest are running from the rain you can see a camera and the operator in the top left-hand corner of the screen.

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Quotes

Jake: The only reason I ain't signing is cause you've turned into some hoity-toity Yankee bitch, and I'd like nothing better right now than to piss you off.

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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.

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Connections

Referenced in Film Geek (2005)

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Soundtracks

Dixie's Land
(uncredited)
Written by Daniel Decatur Emmett

User Reviews

A charming and funny comedy movie.

I am glad I didn't listen to critics and watched this movie! It is a very good movie with charm, humor, sadness and most of all, genial acting! Reese Witherspoon and Josh Lucas are the two characters that you can relate to. Especially the dog part is very fun. I think what makes this movie good is that it is a story you can relate to, but made with humor. Yet there are a part sadness in the story.

It begins with that Melanie is asked by the son of the mayor if she wants to marry him. Then she says yes, but she has things to make up and decides to go down to her hometown in Alabama to get a divorce from her husband who she hasn't met for years, not after she lost her child and he was drunk on their wedding.

The concept and plot is very smart, when the tone is told with humour even in situations that are serious. In fact, if the movie hadn't humor, it had been falling apart. The humor is lifting the story to a little more than just good. It is so fun, so full of genial and amusing characters, excellent acting and an excellent ending. Maybe a movie that mostly girls like to watch, but anyway a good movie.