Table of Content
The writing is smart and funny, the directing fits the comedic mood of the story, and the acting is just right. Although it is a quite different film from "Legally Blonde" and "Election", I enjoyed it just as much, and will enjoy it upon repeat viewings. The streets and storefronts of Crawfordville, Georgia, were used as the backdrop for the Catfish Festival and other downtown scenes.
Most of the film was shot in the Peach State, and Crawfordville replicated Melanie’s Southern hometown. In fact, the downtown features heavily, and the Catfish Festival also made use of various storefronts in the vicinity. The Taliaferro County Courthouse makes an appearance, as does the coonhound cemetery, located on Moore Street. According to Southern Living, the production was fined for landing the seaplane on Lake Peachtree, which is against local ordinances.
Where Was Sweet Home Alabama Filmed?
It wasn't used during filming, but actor Patrick Dempsey stayed here while working. Used to stage the large-scale Civil War reenactment with Melanie's father Earl, the Georgia International Horse Park in Conyers was one of the sites of the 1996 Olympic Games. Volleyball, equestrian and pentathlon events took place here.
Reese Witherspoon can't do much wrong at least most cases. Very sweet with a nice balance of comedy but more of a romance than anything to me. I really enjoy anything with Ethan Embry he's great in Can't Hardly Wait, Cheap Thrills, and Devils Candy. Also Andy Tennent makes a lot of great feel-good flicks, I should watch more of his projects. This is a fine, funny movie that relies more on an ensemble cast than just on Reese Witherspoon.
Cast
Just don’t go looking for the house used as Jake’s from the movie. It contains stunning gardens from the 1930s and offers guided tours of the interior with admission. The Martha Berry Museum, near the home’s entrance, educates visitors on Berry’s life along with the history of the school and the town of Rome. Together with Elle Woods in the Legally Blonde movies Reese Witherspoon got her career role in Sweet Home Alabama, This one must have been real popular in the red states. I do not know where to start, I was liking this movie, but I didn't think it was going to be so cliché and cheesy at the end, I was very disappointed. The movie has quite funny parts that made me laugh out loud, it starts very well and the plot unfolds in a more or less coherent and entertaining way.
To be fair, though, the problems began before Tennant ever came on board, and it falls directly on writers Douglas J. Eboch and C. Jay Cox , who cranked out a story/screenplay that is decidedly uninspired and lacks any semblance of originality whatsoever. The DVD is fine but the picture is not "reference" quality. The sound is Dolby 5.1 but surround channels are not very dynamic.
Follow Melanie's escapades through Georgia
Melanie finds Jake at the beach planting lightning rods in the sand during a rainstorm to create more glass sculptures. She tells him they are still married, they return to what would have been Melanie and Andrew's reception, and finally, have their first dance as husband and wife. Oh well, she wants to marry her city love, Andrew Hennings. I'm no historian on the subject of the American Civil War, but, in spite of its flaws, I surrender to 'Sweet Home Alabama'because of the charm of Reese Witherspoon.
There is a famous legend about the way that Mermaid Tears came to be, and it really is kind of a neat story. It seems that years ago, on a dark and stormy night (don't great stories usually start this way?), a Schooner was out at sea being perilously tossed about on the sea by a terrible storm. A young mermaid was traveling alongside the Schooner, having fallen in love with the ship, and from a distance, with the ship's Captain. She was very worried about the safety of the crew of the ship and the ship itself.
The Georgia International Horse Park in Conyers, outside of Atlanta, was established in 1991 when Atlanta was awarded the location for the 1996 Centennial Olympics. Equestrian, mountain biking, and some of the pentathlon events were held in the park. The town was used as the setting for Pigeon Creek, Melanie’s hometown.
To put what Tennant has done here into perspective, one must place him on the scale by which directors of romantic comedy are judged. On the strength of her `Return To Me,' Bonnie Hunt shares the apex of the chart with the undisputed master of the RC, Nora Ephron, both of whom register at the 100th percentile. At the nadir of the chart is Adam Shankman (`The Wedding Planner'), with a `0' percentile. Granted, he was handed a poor script (how did this get the green light in the first place? It's been DONE already!), but he exhibits a veritable lack of vision with a truly unimaginative rendering of the material.
Melanie is plain mean to everyone for no reason other than them staying in Alabama and she moving to the big city. The big tension between her and her ex was just fake, and their big romance felt forced. There was also some mystery about why she is now who she is and why she left and that half baked explained. Producer Stokely Chaffin developed the film's concept and brought it to screenwriter C. Chaffin, now Senior Vice President of Productions at New Line Cinema, was raised in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Llike Reese Witherspoon's character, she changed her name after she left the South (Stokley is her middle name; during her childhood, her friends and family called her by her first name, Caroline).
See why these romantic destinations have charmed some of the biggest stars in Hollywood. "I did think the ending would work," Lucas told Insider. While looking back on the movie for its 20th anniversary, Tennant talked to Insider about how, in the original ending, test audiences thought Witherspoon's Melanie character died.
I also enjoyed a few scenes with Lucas who is a very good actor. But on the whole, this is not an attempt to make a good movie. Get your friends together for a movie night, featuring some of our favorite Georgia-filmed romantic comedies and romantic movies. After leaving her small town life in favor of a career in fashion in New York City, a Southern girl must return home. She needs a divorce from her childhood sweetheart to marry her current boyfriend, but he isn't letting her go easily. Despite the name, "Sweet Home Alabama" was actually filmed in Georgia.
I have made some of this glass in a rock tumbler before. Doing this you can get either the cloudy glass or clear and smooth pieces. From "Fried Green Tomatoes" to "Forrest Gump," see the sights from movies and TV shows that feature Southern culture and attractions in Georgia.
Josh Lucas makes a fabulous performance as Jake, her estranged high school Hubby who's never got her out of his mind. If you are in the mood for a good old fashioned romance with some great country thrown in then this is the one for you, i've lost count how many times i have seen this now and i'll never tire of it. Even if this isn't your kind of film i challenge you to watch it and not feel good, practically impossible. Delightful characters throughout and constantly entertaining!
She is such a good actress that you do begin to wonder what she is doing in a fluffy romantic comedy like this, especially as it is definitely not as good as 'Legally Blonde'. But I'm glad she is in it, because it is just like an old-fashioned studio 'vehicle', tailored to suit her upcoming stardom. Once you adjust to the slowish pace, the movie is worth staying with, in spite of its predictability.
