‘Sweet Home Alabama’: a typical chick flick, Grade: C+
Going home usually means seeing family and friends you love and want to visit. But going home in this movie is far from sweet.
In this tired, trite and overworked “romantic comedy,” going home is tedious and filled with one Southern stereotype after another – everything from Yankee-hating sentiment to redneck remarks. These are not things that make a movie good. In fact, they bog this film down so much it makes it hard to sit through.
This was a bad sitcom filled with nothing but over-done, crowd-pleasing fluff.
Reese Witherspoon had the opportunity to be something more than what was written for her but ended up conjuring images of Julia Roberts and Sandra Bollock in their romantic-comedy days.
Witherspoon is the main reason this film is as enjoyable as it is, but that’s not saying much. This film is not great at all.
If you have seen the advertisements for this film, you already know how it ends. “Sometimes what you’re looking for is right where you left it.” Need I say more?
So, small-town girl (Witherspoon) goes to New York City and makes it big. But what about all the dirty little stories in her past? Well, change your name and forget about them. Next, fall in love with the rich blue-blood son of the mayor (Patrick Dempsey) and then go home to get divorced from your redneck husband (Joshua Lucas). And there you have it – the first hour of this movie.
And the rest, well, you already know what happens, thanks to the previews. Too bad they no longer entice you to come but tell you the entire story.
But I can’t blame Witherspoon or her co-stars. This film’s troubles have more to do with the script and the direction than the acting. Hollywood is still trying to force new stories into the same old mold. It’s time to break out and forge some new ideas.
One of the major misfires in this movie is the way it deals with some real issues, one of which is Witherspoon’s best friend Boddy Ray (Ethan Embry) who she outs at the bar while fighting with Lucas.
The film takes you into the heart of the South and then exposes one of the good ol’ boys as being gay. That is about it. The film had a great chance to break stereotypes and actually show what goes on as a result of her actions. But it doesn’t. Instead, it is glossed over and treated as if it is a normal, everyday occurrence. What a shame Hollywood is still afraid to deal with real issues.
The second issue came when in dog cemetery we find out Witherspoon’s character miscarried a child. How sad we deal with real-life situations surround by dead pets.
If the film is not going to be funny, which it was not, then it should at least have some substance and deal with reality.