SWEET HOME ALABAMA
Starring:
Reese Witherspoon, Josh Lucas, Ethan Embry, Patrick Dempsey and Candice
Bergen
Director: Andy Tennant
Running Time: 109 mins
Certificate: 12A
Out to buy on DVD October 6th
It's taken Melanie Carmichael (Witherspoon) seven years to become the bell of the New York fashion scene. Her first show is a huge success and her boyfriend Andrew (Dempsey) has just proposed to her. Melanie's life was about to become perfect. She has one little detail to short out before any of this could happen however. She has to return to Alabama and get her husband Jake (Lucas) to sign the divorce papers.
At the moment Reese Witherspoon can do absolutely nothing wrong. Her movies just keep getting more and more successful and Sweet Home Alabama is going to do nothing to change that.
This is a sweet but overly predictable date movie that is made watchable by Witherspoon's presence. Even with its clichéd depiction of Southern American life, full of typical stereotypes but never doing anything to truly offend, the movie still has a feel good factor that creeps up on you even though you know the ending before you even take your seat.
While watching this movie you can see why people have endeared themselves to Reese Witherspoon. She has a friendly, girl next-door quality that people connect with and you just end up wanting her to be happy. This is a sign of a talented actress and she always surrounds herself with good support adding more credibility to her movies. Josh Lucas and Ethan Embry are especially good but Patrick Dempsey's character is very underdeveloped and sadly underused.
What the movie does have going for it is a slightly darker back-story to Witherspoon's and Lucas's characters which isn't your usual wishy-washy reason for splitting up. The characters portray this well before the feel good ending drowns all their previous hard work, which is a shame.
All in all this is an above average romantic comedy that is a very good date movie. One thing is for sure however, Reese Witherspoon is about to become a superstar.
Audio commentary from director Andy Tennant, Deleted scenes with introductions from the director, Alternative ending with intros and outros from the director, 'Mine All Mine' music video, Interactive menu & Scene access
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