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

Jake's floatplane is a De Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver.

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Goofs

When Melanie's mom makes plum jam, the fruits that look peaches are smooth, yellow plums, like Chickasaw plums.

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Quotes

Jake: You can't have roots and wings.

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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 Will & Grace: Strangers with Candice (2003)

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Soundtracks

Mine All Mine
Written by Kristyn Osborn and Hollie Poole
Performed by SHeDAISY
Courtesy of Lyric Street Records, Inc.

User Reviews

Not a bad rom-com.

Reese Witherspoon (as stubborn, sassy lapsed southern belle Mel) could play this role in her sleep, and essentially she plays Reese Witherspoon, which is OK if you like her. At least she's intelligent, and not a bimbo. To me, the star of the film is Josh Lucas, as her estranged husband Jake, who stayed in Alabama years ago while she left to forge a corporate career. Mel is about to marry her handsome Yankie beau Andrew (Patrick Dempsey), but she returns home to ask Jake for a divorce. Cue lots of rather insulting cliches about southerners: they drink a lot, they're hillbillies, they're uneducated, they have kids very young, etc, etc, etc. Plus about five renditions of the rock hit Sweet Home Alabama, which admittedly is still a great song. Jake, however, comes across as very smart, and he's portrayed as genuinely puzzled about why Mel left, and what she expects of him. The couple really do have stuff to work through - haven't they heard of couples therapy? But it's believable, the way it's written. And he and Witherspoon have great chemistry. The supporting cast including Candice Bergen - as Andrew's very stubborn and sassy (and snobby) mother, who's mayor of New York - are good. There's some nice scenes, such as showing Mel's father's Civil War re-enactment group. There is no doubt, whatsoever, how this film is going to end, and did they really need the other stock rom-com staples - the gay friend and the cute dog? But if you're stuck inside on a rainy day, it's a good way to pass the time.