First let me say that I WANT to like this movie. I adore Reese Witherspoon, and I think she does a terrific job in this movie, and for that I want to like it. But OMG the storyline! It's infuriating! Truly, truly infuriating. I agree with another reviewer who wrote that this could only have been written by a man (and it was). Essentially, there's a girl who lives in a tiny town which would be best described as Dirthole, Alabama. She longs for a different life, so she leaves her husband (whom she married just out of high school because she was pregnant (lost the child, so no baby character to worry about)), she trots off to NY, makes a big name for herself as a fashion designer, and gets engaged to the mayor's son, who is not only sexy and hot but also exceedingly kind, generous, and nice. She has to journey back to AL to force her no good husband to sign the divorce papers she's been sending him for the past 7 years and which he has repeatedly refused to sign. While there, wouldn't you know it, she gets sucked back into the 'charm' of the crap hole that she left and the siren call of her ex's blue eyes. This movie totally ignores the fact that maybe this girl really does need something bigger and better than the miserable little town she came from, and it also totally ignores the fact that she managed to make something incredible of her dream. For that alone the authors should be punished. Furthermore, they imply that she's going to throw it all down the drain to return to Hillbilly land in order to reunite with her ex and his hound dog. WHY, is what I want to know. By writing this storyline, the authors suggest that Melanie's dream wasn't really a big deal, and they expect us to just accept their claim that her ex Mr. Blue-eyes is really the love of her life. Well, I never saw it, I don't accept it, and it just infuriates me that Melanie's character so lightly and easily tosses away everything she worked her butt off for over seven years. And don't get me started on the abominable way she treats her fiancé, who is probably the most decent character in the movie. Gaaahhhh! This Melanie character makes women look either idiotic or like big fat liars.
Review of Sweet Home Alabama
