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Sweet Home Alabama (film)

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Sweet Home Alabama
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAndy Tennant
Screenplay byC. Jay Cox
Story byDouglas J. Eboch
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyAndrew Dunn
Edited by
  • Troy Takaki
  • Tracey Wadmore-Smith
Music byGeorge Fenton
Production
companies
Distributed byBuena Vista Pictures Distribution
Release date
  • September 27, 2002 (2002-09-27) (United States)
Running time
109 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$30 million[1]
Box office$180.6 million[1]

Sweet Home Alabama is a 2002 American romantic comedy film directed by Andy Tennant. Written by C. Jay Cox, it stars Reese Witherspoon, Josh Lucas and Patrick Dempsey. The supporting cast includes Fred Ward, Mary Kay Place, Jean Smart, Candice Bergen, Ethan Embry, and Melanie Lynskey. The film takes its title from Lynyrd Skynyrd's 1974 song of the same name.

Young woman Melanie has reinvented herself as a New York City socialite, but must return home to Alabama to obtain a divorce from her husband Jake, who she grew up with, after seven years of separation.

The film was released in the United States on September 27, 2002, by Buena Vista Pictures through their Touchstone Pictures banner. Although it received unfavorable critical reception,[2] it was a success at the box office.[1]

Plot

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On a beach in Pigeon Creek, Alabama, 10-year-olds Jake Perry and Melanie Smooter inspect the result of lightning striking sand. He asserts they are soulmates who will be married.

In the present, Melanie is a New York fashion designer using the surname "Carmichael" to hide her poor Southern roots. After wealthy Andrew Hennings proposes, Melanie returns to Pigeon Creek to announce her engagement to her parents, Earl and Pearl Smooter, and finalize her divorce from estranged husband Jake, whom she married as a pregnant teenager and left after she miscarried. Meanwhile, Kate Hennings, Andrew's mother and the Mayor of New York City, doubts Melanie's suitability for her son, whom she is grooming to run as U.S. President.

Melanie visits Jake, who has long avoided signing their divorce papers. After Jake orders Melanie out of the house, she empties Jake's considerable checking account, hoping to spur him into ending the marriage. Angry, Jake goes to the local bar. Melanie follows and gets drunk, insults her old schoolmates, and outs her longtime friend, Bobby Ray Bailey. Jake scolds Melanie and takes her home to her parents, preventing her from driving inebriated; Melanie wakes to find the signed divorce papers on her bed.

Melanie goes to the Carmichael plantation and apologizes to Bobby Ray. Kate's assistant, Barry Lowenstein, sent to gather information on Melanie's background, unexpectedly arrives posing as a New York Post reporter. Bobby Ray backs up Melanie's pretense that she is related and the family mansion is her childhood home.

After reuniting with friends, Melanie learns that after their split, Jake followed her to New York to win her back. Intimidated by the city and her success, he returned home to make something of himself first. After a heart-to-heart with Jake, Melanie realizes why he never signed their divorce papers.

Andrew arrives to surprise Melanie, but upon discovering her true background and marriage, he angrily leaves. He soon returns to apologize and the wedding is set into motion. Melanie's New York friends arrive. While visiting a restaurant/resort with a glassblowing gallery, they admire its glass sculptures. Melanie realizes that Jake is the artist and owns the resort.

During Melanie and Andrew's wedding at the Carmichael estate, Melanie's attorney, Wallace Buford, arrives to stop the ceremony, declaring Melanie never signed the divorce papers. Realizing she still loves Jake, Melanie does not sign and cancels the wedding. She and Andrew wish each other well, though Kate berates Melanie and insults Pearl. Melanie punches Kate before rushing off to search for Jake.

Melanie finds him at the beach planting lightning rods in the sand to create more glass sculptures. She informs him they are still married. The couple celebrate with friends and family back at the bar and have their first dance as husband and wife.

A mid-credits sequence shows that they have a baby daughter, Melanie continues to thrive as a designer, and Jake opens a "Deep South Glass" franchise in New York. Andrew becomes engaged to Erin Vanderbilt.

Cast

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Release

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Critical response

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This film received mostly negative reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a critical score of 38% based on 160 reviews, with an average rating of 5.19/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Reese Witherspoon is charming enough, but the road to Alabama is well-traveled."[2] At Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 45 out of 100 based on 35 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[3] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale.[4]

Roger Ebert, critic for the Chicago Sun Times, awarded it three out of four stars, commenting, "It is a fantasy, a sweet, light-hearted fairy tale with Reese Witherspoon at its center. She is as lovable as Doris Day would have been in this role... So I enjoyed Witherspoon and the local color, but I am so very tired of the underlying premise."[5] Bill Muller of The Arizona Republic said, "Using her blond, blue-eyed pout to full advantage, Witherspoon is just as likable as a Southern belle as she was as a California sorority girl in Legally Blonde."[6] Andrew Sarris, critic for the New York Observer, said that the movie "Would be an unendurable viewing experience for this ultra-provincial New Yorker if 26-year-old Reese Witherspoon were not on hand to inject her pure fantasy character, Melanie Carmichael, with a massive infusion of old-fashioned Hollywood magic."[7]

Box office performance

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The film grossed over US$35 million in its first weekend, ranking number one at the box office, beating The Tuxedo and Barbershop.[8] At the time, it had the highest September opening weekend, surpassing Rush Hour.[9] For a decade, the film would hold this record until 2012 when Hotel Transylvania took it.[10] Despite getting dethroned by Red Dragon, it still made $21.3 million during its second weekend.[11] By the end of its run in the United States, Sweet Home Alabama grossed over US$130 million, and another US$53,399,006 internationally. With a reported budget of US$30 million, it was a box office hit, despite the mixed reviews.[1]

Home media

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Sweet Home Alabama was released on VHS and DVD on February 4, 2003, it was released on Blu-ray on November 6, 2012, as part of its 10th anniversary.[12] It sold 2 million DVD copies on its first day of release,[13] and sold 7.40 million copies earning a profit of over 128.7 million dollars.[14]

Awards and accolades

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Association Category Recipient Result Ref(s).
BMI Film & Television Award BMI Film Music Award George Fenton Won
GLAAD Media Award Outstanding Film — Wide Release Sweet Home Alabama Nominated
Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild Award Best Contemporary Hair Styling — Feature Anne Morgan Nominated
MTV Movie + TV Award Best Female Performance Reese Witherspoon Nominated
Teen Choice Award Choice Movie – Comedy Sweet Home Alabama Won [15]
Choice Movie Actress – Comedy Reese Witherspoon Nominated [16]
Choice Movie Villain Candice Bergen Nominated [16]
Choice Movie Liplock Reese Witherspoon & Josh Lucas Won [15]

Soundtrack

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Sweet Home Alabama (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), the film soundtrack, includes thirteen songs by different artists.[17]

No.TitleWriter(s)Performer(s)Length
1."Sweet Home Alabama"Gary Rossington, Ronnie Van Zant, Edward KingJewel3:43
2."Mine All Mine"Kristyn Osborn, Hollie PooleSHeDAISY3:55
3."Falling Down"Avril Lavigne, David Alspach, Lauren Christy, Graham EdwardsAvril Lavigne3:54
4."Gonna Make You Love Me"Ryan AdamsRyan Adams2:36
5."To Think I Used to Love You (DJ Homicide Remix)"Uncle KrackerUncle Kracker3:26
6."Keep Your Hands to Yourself"Daniel J. BairdThe Calling3:06
7."Bring On the Day"Amy Powers, Jeffrey C.J. VanstonCharlotte Martin4:33
8."Long Gone Lonesome Blues"Hank WilliamsSheryl Crow2:55
9."You Got Me"Jason ChainJason Chain3:44
10."Now That I Know"Eric Bazilian, Shannon McNallyShannon McNally4:44
11."Marry Me"Dolly PartonDolly Parton3:15
12."Weekend Song"Matt Cantor, Pete Chill, Aston Harvey, Tenor FlyFreestylers3:58
13."Felony Melanie - Sweet Home Alabama Suite (Score)"George FentonGeorge Fenton5:02
Total length:48:51

See also

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  • The Judge—a 2014 film with a similar plot of a protagonist with a successful big city career drawn back to an old hometown.
  • Middle America

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Sweet Home Alabama (2002)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on October 19, 2009. Retrieved September 19, 2009.
  2. ^ a b "Sweet Home Alabama (2002)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Archived from the original on May 16, 2019. Retrieved June 4, 2023.
  3. ^ "Sweet Home Alabama Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on July 18, 2019. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  4. ^ "Find CinemaScore" (Type "Sweet Home Alabama" in the search box). CinemaScore. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
  5. ^ Ebert, Roger (September 27, 2002). "Sweet Home Alabama". RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on May 2, 2022. Retrieved May 1, 2022.
  6. ^ Muller, Bill (September 27, 2002). "Ain't she 'sweet'". The Arizona Republic. p. 68. Archived from the original on December 16, 2025. Retrieved December 16, 2025 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  7. ^ "Review: Sweet Home Alabama". February 12, 2007. Archived from the original on February 12, 2007.
  8. ^ Linder, Brian (October 1, 2002). "Weekend Box Office: Home Sweet Home". IGN. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  9. ^ "Moviegoers Make It a 'Sweet' September". Los Angeles Times. October 1, 2002. Archived from the original on November 5, 2022. Retrieved November 5, 2022.
  10. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (September 28, 2015). "Hotel Transylvania 2 At $48.5M Marks Record Opening For Adam Sandler; 'Intern' Slacks On Sunday – Monday Postmortem". Deadline Hollywood. (Penske Media Corporation). Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
  11. ^ "Red Dragon breaks Oct opening record with $37.5m". Screen Daily. October 5, 2002.
  12. ^ https://www.amazon.com/Sweet-Home-Alabama-Anniversary-Blu-ray/dp/B008U19P2K
  13. ^ Hettrick, Scott (February 6, 2003). "'Sweet' release on DVD". Variety. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  14. ^ "Year End 2003 Top-selling titles (combined VHS and DVD)". Variety. December 30, 2003. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
  15. ^ a b "2003 Teen Choice Winners Announced". Hollywood.com. June 7, 2014. Archived from the original on March 1, 2022. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  16. ^ a b "2003 Teen Choice Awards Nominees". Billboard. June 18, 2003. Retrieved January 6, 2020.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  17. ^ "Various - Sweet Home Alabama (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) on Apple Music". iTunes. January 2002. Archived from the original on May 17, 2018. Retrieved January 1, 2002.
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