Sweet Home Alabama (film)
| Sweet Home Alabama | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Andy Tennant |
| Produced by | Neal H. Moritz |
| Screenplay by | C. Jay Cox |
| Story by | Douglas J. Eboch |
| Starring |
Reese Witherspoon Josh Lucas Patrick Dempsey Ethan Embry Mary Kay Place Fred Ward Candice Bergen Jean Smart |
| Music by | George Fenton |
| Cinematography | Andrew Dunn |
| Edited by | Troy Takaki Tracey Wadmore-Smith |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Buena Vista Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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109 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $30 million |
| Box office | $180.6 million |
Sweet Home Alabama is a 2002 American romantic comedy film directed by Andy Tennant, starring Reese Witherspoon, Josh Lucas, Patrick Dempsey and Candice Bergen. The film was released by Touchstone Pictures on September 27, 2002.
The film opens on a stormy Alabama beach with two children, Melanie Smooter and Jake Perry. Jake has brought Melanie out to show her the glass sculptures that result when sand is struck by lightning. They discuss their future together, with Jake asserting they will be married one day.
In the present day, Melanie has changed her last name to Carmichael, a rich local family, to hide her poor Southern roots. She is a successful up-and-coming fashion designer in New York City. After becoming engaged to Andrew, Melanie goes home alone to Alabama to tell her parents. In reality she is going to procure a divorce from her estranged husband Jake. Andrew's mother, the Mayor of New York, expresses doubt that Melanie is good enough for her son, whom she is grooming to eventually run for President of the United States.
In Alabama, Melanie asks Jake why he has returned the divorce papers unsigned for the last seven years, but he orders her out of his house, eventually calling the sheriff (another childhood friend) to intervene. When Melanie's father brings her home from the station she announces her engagement.
Hoping to spur Jake to sign the papers, Melanie empties out his checking account, after learning that her name is still on it. Jake says he will sign the papers in the morning, lamenting "nobody finds their soulmate when they're ten years old". Following Jake to a local bar, Melanie gets drunk and embarrasses herself in front of her childhood friends, expressing disgust at their lifestyle, confessing that Jake got her pregnant as teens and outing a mutual friend, Bobby Ray Carmichael. When Melanie wakes up the next morning, the divorce papers are lying on her bed, finally signed by Jake.
Melanie visits the Carmichael plantation to apologize to Bobby Ray, where she is cornered by a private detective sent to dig up dirt for the mayor. Realizing her predicament, Bobby Ray pretends to be her cousin, backing up her pretense that this is her childhood home. Melanie soon reconciles with her other friends, and learns that Jake followed her to New York City to win her back—intimidated by the size of Manhattan, he returned home determined to make something of himself first. Melanie now realizes why Jake never signed the divorce papers.
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