The South has risen again, thanks to Hollywood’s latest blockbuster movie star. Reese Witherspoon’s new romantic comedy, “Sweet Home Alabama,” debuted the last weekend of September at No. 1, raking in $37.5 million.
Most reviewers have already weighed in, and they seem pissed off. The plot is painfully predictable, they whine. The dialogue is unoriginal and the stereotypes are tired. The movie uses nearly every formula in Hollywood’s favorite big fat book of romantic comedy.
Stop complaining. As long as American women continue to flock to theaters for yet another 90-minute chick flick, there is no point in criticizing the very nature of the beast. In the words of Lynyrd Skynyrd, whose legendary rock song gives the movie its title, a romantic comedy “picks me up when I’m feeling blue.” Some people (this “critic” included) just need mindless modern fairy tales to get them through the humdrum of everyday life.
When the film begins, our leading lady, Melanie Carmichael (Witherspoon), is a budding fashion designer who suddenly finds herself engaged to New York City’s most eligible bachelor and the son of the mayor (Candice Bergen at her best).
Before Melanie can say “I do,” she needs to sneak home to take care of some unfinished business from her past life as Melanie Smooter, a legendary hell-raiser from white-trash central — Pigeon Creek, Ala. This includes confronting Jake, her childhood sweetheart and husband (Josh Lucas), who still refuses to sign the divorce papers.
While battling it out for her divorce, Melanie finds herself living with her parents, Earl and Pearl Smooter (Fred Ward and Mary Kay Place), both of whom seem convinced that their daughter will ruin her life, but for very different reasons. After a drunken night at Stella’s Roadhouse, Melanie also manages to offend quite a few of her old friends, including Bobby Ray (Ethan Embry) who nonetheless helps her uphold the elaborate lies she has created when a New York City reporter arrives at his doorstep.
If you’ve seen “The Philadelphia Story,” you know exactly how the rest goes. The only real shocker is that Melanie’s perfect fiancՀ