Movie Synopsis: New York fashion designer Melanie Carmichael suddenly finds herself engaged to the city's most eligible bachelor. But Melanie's past holds many secrets, including Jake, the redneck husband she married in high school, who refuses to divorce her. Bound and determined to end their contentious relationship once and for all, Melanie sneaks back home to Alabama to confront her past, only to discover that you can take the girl out of the South, but you can never take the South out of the girl.
With an extremely inviting atmosphere, "Sweet Home Alabama" will draw you in and make you feel right at home. You'll feel that Southern Hospitality, empathize with the characters, and want to kick it on the dance floor to Skynard's famous tune! Reese Witherspoon proves yet again, that she is definitely a bankable actress as the movie surpasses the $100M mark in its 5 weeks in theaters to date. Reese may have been given lessons to lose her southern accent for acting, but it's just that southern charm that draws the crowds to see her. And, as for the accent, you'll notice just as in "Freeway", she is able to revert back to her native tongue.
Witherspoon plays Melanie Carmichael, an up and coming fashion designer in New York. She barely has her first runway show at Fashion Week, which is a huge success, and her boyfriend, Andrew (Patrick Dempsey) gives her an unforgettable proposal. Andrew is the perfect man for Melanie, he's smart, successful, son of the Mayor and completely adores her. Melanie feels the same way, despite the disapproval of her soon to be mother in law (Candice Bergen) who feels like Andrew doesn't know her well enough, and is worried about any potential skeletons in her closet that could hurt her upcoming campaign. Well, skeletons she definitely has, and must rush back to her hometown in Alabama to clean things up.
This proves easier said than done. The main "skeleton" she's trying to fix is a tiny problem…making her 1st husband Jake (Josh Lucas) sign final divorce papers. She has been trying unsuccessfully for seven years, and he kept sending the papers back unsigned. Another problem is hiding the fact that she wasn't born and raised in a huge plantation as she had stated in a recent article, but in fact born and bred in small Podunk town in a doublewide.
Jake and Melanie both try to get under each other's skin by pushing buttons known only to them, as they have been together since they were 10 years old. Melanie wants nothing more than to get out of Alabama, where the people are so "strange" and get back to her "normal" life in New York. Jake thinks she has turned into a stuck up Yankee. Sporting a rock the size of the Hope Diamond, she parades around town re-discovering her roots and running into long lost friends and family.
So much natural humor fills this movie, and it flows very well. Candice Bergen once again gets to be her best character, the snooty and bossy businesswoman. Dempsey is a charming bachelor who unlike his mother, likes to take chances regardless of the opinion polls. Witherspoon is a beautiful and funny southern belle. We will definitely be seeing her much more often on the big screen. She's not quite Julia Roberts, but she's definitely running a close second as far as bringing in the box office dollars.
I found myself laughing, crying and jammin' to the killer tunes in this film. The outcome is somewhat predictable, but the journey to get there is definitely worth it. This film is meant to be "fun", so go, kick back and just enjoy! The Zone rates "Sweet Home Alabama" a 7 out of 10. An incredibly FUN experience.
