Sweet Home Alabama (2002)

A young woman who's reinvented herself as a New York City 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 | firefly | new york city | 

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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:

Alabama, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$35,648,740, 29 September 2002

Gross USA:

$127,223,418

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$180,622,424

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:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

An entire character (along with a subplot about her) was deleted from the film, when test audiences consistently misunderstood her relationship with Andrew. Erin Vanderbilt (played by Katharine Towne) survives in the finished movie only in a newspaper wedding announcement shown to Melanie during the closing credits.

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Goofs

When Melanie's Father Earl returns home from the battlefield with Andrew he says, "Look what I found walking down I-58". If the movie is set in Pigeon Creek, Alabama then the only interstate anywhere close to that is I-65.

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Quotes

Melanie Carmichael: [gets up to leave] Jake, I can't do this.
Jake: [grabs her arm so she faces him] I know.
[they kiss]
Jake: [eventually pulling away] Go home, Mel.

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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 The Wrong Girl: Episode #2.7 (2017)

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Soundtracks

Taps
(uncredited)

User Reviews

cute movie but not very ethical

So the girl just dumped her fiancee like that and ran to another guy on the wedding day? Not forget to mention, after all the things her fiancee has done for her and all the happiness he has brought to her life, she just DUMPED him like a garbage and punched his mother? YEAH RIGHT! I DON"T BELIEVE IT. This is a very cute movie, but overall, I didn't enjoy it very much.