Sweet Home Alabama

→ in
Tools    





The Fat of the Mailbox
I think they made this movie to show off the cuteness of Reese Witherspoon (sp?).

Ok, I just thught that for a few min. after I saw the preview. But I still think the movei is going to suck. And no, I have nothing to base that off of except for personal bias.



My niece talked me into taking her to see this and it wasn’t that bad… nothing I would want to see again but it was good for a few laughs…
__________________
You never know what is enough, until you know what is more than enough.
~William Blake ~

AiSv Nv wa do hi ya do...
(Walk in Peace)




The Fat of the Mailbox
Shallow, I knew it!



SPOILERS
I was just forced by "the woman" to watch Sweet Home Alabama. Needless to say, her and her friends loved it and thought it was "cute". Cute? I hate it when girls describe movies as cute.
Anyway on to the review. I did in fact think that parts of Sweet Home Alabama were indeed "cute"...Reece Witherspoon, there were a few good laughs, and ummm Reece Witherspoon. It definitley had a fairy tale feel to it and to its credit was at least watchable and mildly entertaining if you turned off your brain.

That being said, for the most part Sweet Home Alabama is a big pile of junk. The characters in the film are insulting stereotypes and they are as thin as a piece of foil. Characters are overly forgiving and fake, negating any attempt at real human emotions or insight. At one point Reece insults her entire town at the bar and in one night they completely forgive her. She calls out her in-the-closet-gay friend and the good ol' boys from the south don't seem to have a problem that their friend is gay. This is the south? Gimme a break. Their acceptance for homosexuals seems to contradict the fact that they tote around confederate flags and the only black southern characters in the movie are cooks and maids.
Of course, the biggest follies the film committs are with the love story itself. Jake, her country bumpkin love, gives us little reason to understand why she would leave the perfectly nice Patrick Dempsey character. We begin to see as the movie progresses that she is going to dump Dempsey and move onto Jake, but the film gives us little justification as to why. Then perhaps the films biggest crime, Dempsey gets stood up at the alter and he doesn't care, not in the slightest. He's happy to be dumped on his wedding day, by the woman he loves. HAHA! It's practically the most insulting thing i've seen in a movie in a long time. So, we are suppose to like a protagonist who lives a lie, strings out two men, breaks the heart of both of them, dumps one at the alter, then parties the night away with the other?
Basically Sweet Home Alabama is formulaic and dumbed down. There is no real attempt to do anything remotely artistic or true here. It is a popcorn movie to its core. And although it will get a few laughs out of you, it surely won't evoke any actual thinking.

SCORE: 4/10

If you're a girl who likes "cute" movies I'm sure this will do for you. Otherwise don't see it unless you're forced to.



The Fat of the Mailbox
Thanks for the review.
Further proof that sometimes you can judge a movie by its trailer.



Originally posted by Mr. Fong

This is the south? Gimme a break.
While I agree with several of your comments about the movie, it is rather obvious that you know absolutely nothing about the bonds of friendship or the south…



The bonds of friendship in the south might be true, but this is not some self-evident fact. And the fact that someone had to be told this and that the movie itself could not get this msg across speaks miles as to why it is pathetic. Even if this "tight bonds of friendship" theory is indeed true the movie itself did not adress this issue at all when considereing the gay friend coming out of the closet. In fact it blew over it as if it didn't matter at all, it was side bar, an entertaining appetizer, nothing of substance. Much like every issue the movie attempts to deal with for that matter.

By the way to claim that the bonds of friendship in the south are stronger than in other parts of the country is sterotypical and biased. And doesn't change the fact that lying, insulting, and hidden sexuality would have some stir, no matter your relations.



The bonds of friendship in the south might be true, but this is not some self-evident fact. And the fact that someone had to be told this and that the movie itself could not get this msg across speaks miles as to why it is pathetic.
Had you really watched this movie, it might have been as evident to you as it was to other movie goers that all of his friends were already well aware of the fact that he was gay even though it didn’t appear he had confided in any of them… did you actually think that they had been blind for years and that Reese was able to figure it out in the limited time she was around him…

Even if this "tight bonds of friendship" theory is indeed true the movie itself did not adress this issue at all when considereing the gay friend coming out of the closet. In fact it blew over it as if it didn't matter at all, it was side bar, an entertaining appetizer, nothing of substance. Much like every issue the movie attempts to deal with for that matter.
It didn’t matter to his friends and the issue was addressed in the very fact that all his friends stood by him and didn’t turn their backs on him… sometimes actions speak louder than words ever could…

By the way to claim that the bonds of friendship in the south are stronger than in other parts of the country is sterotypical and biased. And doesn't change the fact that lying, insulting, and hidden sexuality would have some stir, no matter your relations.
I did not claim the bonds of friendship in the south are stronger than in other parts of the country so don’t twist my words around to suit yourself… You insinuated with your statement “This is the south? Gimme a break.” that bonds of friendship like that were not possible in the south… and then you went on to insinuate that anyone who "totes around a confederate flag" couldn’t possibly accept a homosexual which is biased and stereotypical on your part… You also neglected to clarify the reason they were carrying confederate flags was because they were all history buffs taking part in Civil War re-enactments which incidentally was a major part of the tourist trade in that town… and your following statement “the only black southern characters in the movie are cooks and maids.” should have clued me in on the fact that you didn’t really watch this movie… (and I am not talking about her friend from New York either)… so maybe you need to really watch this movie instead of just using it as an opportunity to voice your own prejudice views…



jamesglewisf's Avatar
Didn't see it.
Cute, but not as good as "Legally Blonde."
__________________
Jim Lewis
To BE or Not to BE, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Barium Enema
Crouching Tiger, Paint Your Wagon - Forums



My girlfriend made me go watch with her and needless to say, it wasn't a very good movie. I give it...

way, way down