Melanie Carmichael (Reese Witherspoon) is a fashion designer and has long been in love with Andrew Hennings (Patrick Dempsey). After Andrew proposes to her and mother-in-law – Mayor Kate Hennings (Candice Bergen) – when the media got wind of it, the fanfare was great. Then the engaged couple the New York theme. However, Melanie carries a secret with her: she is actually already married to none other than her childhood friend Jake Perry (Josh Lucas). When she travels to rural Alabama to sort out the divorce and break the news to her parents, the usual roadblocks come at every step, not only from the stubborn Jakes, but also from the Southern parents who love the wedding best want to experience in Alabama. The fact that the mayoress is also getting involved and the bomb threatens to explode doesn’t play into Melanie’s cards, after all, important voters’ votes are at stake here.
Cinema laughter through the ages
Andy Tennantdirector of light comedies There Bail Cop or Hitch – The Date Doctor, has created films with these productions that most people are certainly familiar with today. Also his romantic comedy Sweet Home Alabama, which hit theaters in 2002, was a hit and grossed over $180 million. While the drama doesn’t keep us waiting long, the humor is much more niche. To sum it up in one word: There is a certain southern humor here, which is supposed to carry the film through most of the time, but doesn’t make it beyond small teasing and clichés. This makes it almost seem like Tennant was still looking for the right humor at the time to ensure lots of laughter. .
Average at best
Even if you had a passable cast available here, you have to say that every single actor is interchangeable, even with Reese Witherspoon and Patrick Dempsey as protagonists. Due to the fact that few creative ideas are noticeable here, the comedy turns out to be rather average overall, not least because of sayings that you have heard a thousand times before – right at the top “You’re just like your father” and “I I didn’t want you to end up like me.” Given the generic story, the solid cast, and the cinematic execution that couldn’t be more unspectacular, there’s little that turns out to be commendable.
The fact that one is disappointed with the mayor as a future mother-in-law is the icing on the cake, as she tries to pull the strings in the background. The votes mentioned at the beginning have absolutely no basis in the end, which means that both narrative and humorous potential is wasted. That in the course of the film two moments are as certain as amen in church – the ending, which one already foresees from afar and the use of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s song of the same name – says it all in the end.
OT: „Sweet Home Alabama“
Land: USA
Year: 2002
Director: Andy Tennant
Script: Douglas J. Eboch, C. Jay Cox
Camera: Andrew Dunn
Music: George Fenton
Occupation: Reese Witherspoon, Josh Lucas, Patrick Dempsey, Candice Bergen, Mary Kay Place, Fred Ward
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