Melanie decides to not sign the papers, and that she does not want to marry Andrew, because she still loves Jake, which Andrew understands. On her wedding day, as she is walking down the aisle, her lawyer shows up and explains that Jake has signed the divorce papers, but she has not. They decide to have the wedding in Alabama and Andrew's mother comes down from New York. Andrew tells her how sorry he is and how he still wants to marry her. Melanie returns to her parents' house where her father walks in with Andrew. Andrew finds out that Melanie is still married to Jake and runs off angrily. Jake, identifying himself as Melanie's cousin, brings Andrew to Melanie. Jake meets him and discovers that he is Melanie's fiance. Jake pushes her away, however, and tells her to go home. Jake gives a blessing for Melanie to have a good life with Andrew, but Melanie says she cannot do it and kisses Jake. Jake shows up and explains how he told the dog that her disappearance was his fault and they end up talking about why the marriage did not work, the baby they lost, and why she left. That night, she goes to the cemetery to tell her old coon dog Bear good bye. Melanie learns that Jake had once gone to New York City to try to find her, because he still loved her. When she wakes up the next morning, the divorce papers are laying on her bed signed by Jake. Jake becomes angry with her and takes her home. Jake refuses to divorce her until one night she gets drunk and explains to everyone in the bar that the reason she married Jake was because she was pregnant, and she later had a miscarriage. She has not told Andrew that she is still married. Her private reason is to demand a divorce from Jake. When she becomes engaged to Andrew, the son of the mayor of New York City, Melanie announces that she has to go back home alone to Alabama to tell her parents in person. Then it goes to present day with Melanie now a successful fashion designer in New York City. The film starts at a beach in Alabama during a thunderstorm with two children chasing each other (10 yr old Melanie and Jake) who kiss but get struck by lightning. DVD features: movie (109min) commentary by director Andy Tennant deleted scenes (introduced by Tennant) alternate ending (introduced by Tennant).The story is a love triangle involving two childhood Alabama sweethearts who married but became estranged, Jake Perry and Melanie Smooter (Lucas and Witherspoon), and Melanie's boyfriend of 8 months, Andrew Hennings (Dempsey). This was clearly written as her star vehicle but, given its limitations, she's still the next cab off the rank. As someone more used to Deep South cuisine than me put it, "After a while this lack of sincerity becomes less appealing than a bowl of catfish stew." Witherspoon has been picked as Hollywood's Next Big Thing since her breakthrough hit, Legally Blonde, and she's shown a range in a number of roles. Unfortunately, Sweet Home Alabama is too contrived, too production-line to pull it off, as you can probably pick from the fact that even the title was filched from a 70s' Lynyrd Skynyrd anthem. So if you're going to try to tell it all over again in the 00s it has to be done with a certain style and tenderness. Well, it's a familiar story that Hollywood has been retailing since Carole Lombard or Mary Pickford rearranged the cushions on the casting couch, the idea of someone leaving her life in the country to seek fame and fortune in the big city, only to discover there's no place like home. Land sakes, Miss Melly, but the old sparks begin to fly and soon Melanie finds herself torn between her old life and the new, and the new man and the old. Josh is still in love with her, because there wouldn't be a movie if he wasn't. So she flies home for the first time in seven years to convince the childhood sweetheart, Josh (Jake Perry), to sign their ex-life away. Well, not unless there was a gosh-darned good reason, and getting rid of the inconvenient spouse of her teenage years to marry the rich kid is that reason. Our Mel has made the long and difficult journey from Pigeon Creek with one single-minded ambition, and that was never to go back there. There's only one problem: Melanie is already married. She becomes Melanie Carmichael, a top fashion designer, and engaged to Andrew Hennings (Patrick Dempsey), son of the mayor (Candice Bergen). By EWAN McDONALD (Herald rating: * * *) Melanie Smooter (Reese Witherspoon) leaves behind her pushy mother (Mary Kay Place), boring father (Fred Ward) and the shack in Pigeon Creek, Alabama, and moves to New York.
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