(What is this chick embarrassed about? Like she’s the first fashion designer to be descended from white trash? Please…)
CAST: Reese Witherspoon, Josh Lucas, Patrick Dempsey, Candace Bergen, Fred Ward, Mark Kay Place, Ethan Embry, Rhona Mitra, Nathan Lee Graham.
DIRECTOR: Andy Tennant
WARNING: Some SPOILERS and uncomfortable Hoity-Toity Pseudo-Yankee Bitch shenanigans right ahead…
You folks have heard me opine in past reviews about the LLT - or “Lopsided Love Triangle.” It’s a syndrome that affects most romantic comedies, basically describing a central character who is caught between two potential mates. Mate # 1 is usually an annoying fuckhead that any normal person would sooner drink rancid milk before associating with. Meanwhile, Mate # 2 is usually a breathtaking individual who is basically, well, Mr. Wonderful (or, Ms. Wonderful) who also: (1) practically walks on water, (2) can cook like a master chef, (3) funny as hell, (4) supremely sweet, and (5) is capable of rocking your world in the bedroom to the extent that you forget what city you live in - and how to walk properly for at least two days. Ahem.
So? Who would you choose? Exactly. That’s the problem with the LLT: it’s painfully obvious to the audience who the protagonist should choose, and all that dithering and fretting is just a way to kill a couple of hours until said protagonist decides to make a no-brainer of a decision. Truthfully, if these people actually behaved like normal human beings and made choices like normal human beings, there wouldn’t be a movie.
It’s refreshing, then, to encounter a film that plays fair and gives us a triangle that is truly a triangle. That is, a protagonist caught between two great people - in other words, a true conflict. There have been a few of those throughout the years, to include: CASABLANCA (1942), AGAINST ALL ODDS (1984), BROADCAST NEWS (1987), SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME (1987), WOMAN ON TOP (2000), and SWEET HOME ALABAMA (2002). The latter is the subject of this latest review, and its solid central triangle is the chief reason it rates as high as it does.
Our protagonist is Melanie Carmichael (Reese Witherspoon). Melanie is a New York City fashion designer who has it all: (1) an impending fashion show that promises to launch her in the stratosphere; (2) glamorous designer friends like Frederick (Nathan Lee Graham) and supermodel friends like Tabatha (Rhona Mitra); and (3) a dashing fiancee in Andrew (Patrick Dempsey) who is also the son of the city’s mayor, Kate Henning (Candace Bergen). In short, Melanie is living the good life.
Except she has a secret. See, Melanie’s last name isn’t really Carmichael. It’s Smooter, which somehow would not look as striking on the back wall of a fashion show runway. Unless she’s showing the latest in Trailer Trash Apparel. And she’s not really descended from Deep South royalty like the New York press believes. More like descended from the trailer park over yonder in Pigeon Creek. And, worse of all, technically she’s still married to her childhood sweetheart, Jake (Josh Lucas) - because the jackass never signed the divorce papers she served him. Now, with her marriage to Andrew looming in the very near future, her still-married status is a major monkey wrench in her program.
So… as you can imagine, Melanie Carmichael Smooter sneaks out of NYC to settle her affairs down in Pigeon Creek, Alabama. She’s hoping to just cruise in, have Jake the jerk finally sign the divorce papers, then scoot right back to the Big Apple and forget she ever made the mistake of marrying him. Of course, things go about as planned as the Donner Party’s trek out west. Only Melanie’s clashes with her Southern Fried roots are more grisly.
To wit, the following occur: (1) Melanie butts head with her Mom and Dad (Fred Ward and Mary Kay Place); (2) Melanie butts heads with her old friends at a bar and basically calls them all losers; (3) Melanie outs closeted best pal Bobby Rae (Ethan Embry) in front of his redneck buddies (Oh. FUCK.); and (4) Melanie clashes with Jake over the divorce papers. Needless to say, Pigeon Creek is just a tad unprepared for Hurricane Melanie.
Meanwhile, back in New York, Kate and Andrew are clashing over his engagement to Melanie. Kate is suspicious of Melanie (with good reason, as it turns out) and thinks Andrew can do better. Andrew, for his part, thinks him mom should mind her own goddamn business and concentrate on not screwing up the mayoral affairs of the city. To prove her wrong about Melanie, he heads on down to Alabama to see what’s what. Good thing he didn’t make a bet with Kate, eh?
While Kate and Andrew have been butting heads up north, Melanie has slowly been mellowing the fuck out. As our Mel is discovering first-hand, it seems all you need to do to get all that big city adrenalin flushed out of your system is do the following: (1) make plum jam with your mom in her double-wide trailer; (2) attend a country fair where you sheepishly admit you done fucked up by calling your best friend a flamer and all your other friends losers; (3) sit in a pet graveyard with your soon-to-be-ex and watch fireflies dancing in the dark, and (4) notice just how blue the eyes are of your said soon-to-be-ex, and how much he looks like a blonde Kevin Costner fused with Chris Evans, which (5) is not a good thing if you’re about to marry the awesome son of New York City’s mayor. Decisions, decisions…
Will Melanie embrace her past? Will she reaffirm her connection with Jake? Or will she decide her future is with Andrew? Will Kate try to ruin things by sabotaging the wedding? How will the humble folk of Pigeon Creek react when Andrew decides to have the wedding right there? Will Jake even sign those divorce papers in time to for Melanie to get married again? And most importantly: is it just me, or do Jake and Bobby Rae actually make a far more gorgeous couple? See below:
Now that’s one wedding I’d attend: blonde on blonde, baby… I'd kill to see a dark-haired version of this pairing.
BUT, SERIOUSLY: As I wrote in the intro, SWEET HOME ALABAMA’s chief asset is the well-crafted love triangle at its core. The story itself is something we’ve seen before: super-successful city-dweller rediscovers his/her small-town roots - and is humanized in the process. This thread is done well enough, and makes the film an above-average entry into the Romantic Comedy genre. But, make no mistake, it’s the conflict between Melanie, Jake, and Andrew that elevates SWEET HOME ALABAMA into the “good” category.
The plot isn’t complex, but director Andy Tennant and his writer add sufficient nuance and shadings to the situations and supporting characters to give the story some heft. Some critics have complained that this film’s treatment of the South and its denizens is cliched and fanciful. There may be some validity to these complaints, but I didn’t mind the portrayal too much since the Romantic Comedy is a bit fanciful to begin with, anyway. What matters is the film is entertaining, funny, soulful, and - yes - suspenseful.
Like WOMAN ON TOP (2000), the question of who our protagonist will choose is up in the air until pretty much the last few minutes. I remember watching SWEET HOME ALABAMA for the first time and feeling breathless with anticipation as to who Melanie would choose. I know who I wanted her to choose, but I wasn’t 100% certain it would be him. Not going to reveal who I was rooting for. Suffice it to say, she didn’t choose him. But it’s a testament to the beauty of this triangle that I was also happy with the other guy. Bottom line: Melanie has to choose between two great guys - and even though it’s initially an extremely difficult decision, it is also ultimately a win-win situation.
Reese Witherspoon makes some brave choices with her acting. In the first act, when Melanie first arrives in Pigeon Creek, she is almost a caricature of the preening, entitled city careerist who has forgotten her humble past. Melanie flirts with being too badly-behaved, especially in the bar scene where she outs Bobby Rae and insults all her other old friends. You can understand Jake’s anger towards her. Witherspoon is formidable and hard-boiled in these scenes, and you worry that she might lose audience sympathy because of it.
But Reese Witherspoon knows what she’s doing, and when she finally allows Melanie to thaw and gradually embrace her origins, we begin to warm to the character. Watch for the lovely scene at the country fair where Melanie makes amends for her earlier behavior. Witherspoon conveys Melanie’s contriteness and shame without saying too many words. From this point forward, we are firmly on her side as she re-discovers her love for her hometown.
Josh Lucas is a terrific foil for Witherspoon. Combining smashing great looks with potent charisma, but also sparking it with a mischievous intelligence, Lucas is one of those actors like Paul Newman, Robert Redford, and Kevin Costner who are much more than just handsome faces. They slyly use their physical appeal to subvert expectations and trample on conventions to create something new and refreshing. Lucas does this with Jake, making him both complex and simple. In his hands, the character is stubborn, smart, seductive, shy, and soulful. You can understand why Melanie would fall for Jake in the past - and how she would be given pause about him in the present, even as her wedding to Andrew draws closer and closer.
But you can also understand Melanie’s loyalty to Andrew. Patrick Dempsey wisely plays Andrew as down-to-earth and pragmatic, avoiding any pitfalls that could’ve led to the character being seen as elitist and snobbish. Andrew’s best qualities are his forgiving nature and open-minded outlook. He eventually understands why Melanie would lie about her past and embellish her lineage, and ultimately doesn’t judge her for it. On the flip side, though, Dempsey manages to make the character human and not some flawless Prince Charming. That would’ve been boring. Instead, we get a character whose high status in society doesn’t change the fact that he’s just like the rest of us.
As for the supporting cast, as with MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING and its extended network of characters, everyone is ideally cast and nails their roles. The standouts are Candace Bergen as the well-meaning but misguided Kate, Fred Ward and Mark Kay Place as Melanie’s quirky but wise parents, and Ethan Embry as the sweet and closeted Bobby Rae who ultimately mans up and faces who he is. His scenes with Reese Witherspoon have a nice brother/sister rapport.
Ultimately, SWEET HOME ALABAMA is like a like a slice of Southern Pecan Pie - sweet and bit of a guilty pleasure, but with surprises that go down well. Especially that central triangle….
