Line #29 Film/SweetHomeAlabama


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_0860.JPG]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:''[[TagLine Sometimes What You're Looking For Is Right Where You Left It]].'']]
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4	''Sweet Home Alabama'' is a 2002 American romantic comedy directed by AndyTennant, starring Creator/ReeseWitherspoon, Creator/JoshLucas, Creator/PatrickDempsey and Creator/CandiceBergen. The film was released on September 27, 2002 by Touchstone Pictures.
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6	Melanie Carmichael (Witherspoon) is a rising New York fashion designer who is recently engaged to Andrew Hennings (Dempsey), the man of her dreams. Her life is perfect... except that her name is actually Melanie Smooter, and she's still legally married to Jake Perry (Lucas), her childhood sweetheart. She flies home to Pigeon Creek, Alabama to force Jake to finally sign the divorce papers and, once there, finds that she misses her former home, friends, and even her soon-to-be ex-husband. Worse, her fiance and his mother show up unexpectedly and they decide to have the wedding in Alabama, forcing Melanie to confront her past rather than run from it.
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8	----
9	!!''Sweet Home Alabama'' provides examples of:
10	* AlcoholInducedIdiocy: A drunken Melanie ends up insulting a lot of people at the bar to tr and aggravate Jake and blurting out unpleasant truths, something she's a lot more awkward about after sobering up.
11	* BelligerentSexualTension: Between Melanie and Jake. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in the final scene when [[spoiler: Bobby Ray replaces the bride and groom figurine on top of the purloined wedding cake with the combatants from the bar's "Rock 'Em, Sock 'Em Robots" game.]]
12	* BigApplesauce: Melanie moved to New York after she left Jake.
13	* BigFancyHouse: The Carmichael Plantation, Bobby Ray's home. Melanie lies to a New York Post reporter [[spoiler: who's really a private detective, hired by Andrew's mother]] claiming that the house is actually her childhood home.
14	* BitchInSheepsClothing: Andrew's mother, Kate.
15	** Melanie qualifies as well during some of her more abrasive moments.
16	* BrickJoke: Jake talking about the cat Melanie put a bomb on seems to just be an urban legend that Jake is exaggerating when he describes how it supposedly survive but then it does show up at the party at the end, licking at the cake.
17	* BridalCarry: PlayedForLaughs when Jake drives a very drunk Melanie back to her parents' house. She passes out by the time he gets there and he hauls her in the house, snoring. Also PlayedForLaughs at the end of the movie, when Jake carries Melanie into their [[spoiler: years-late reception]] this way, only to put her down and reveal they are, in fact, handcuffed together.
18	* ByTheBookCop: Sheriff Wade refuses to just arrest Melanie or kick her out of Jake's house (at least until Jake mentions a certain bench warrant) due to them still being married and it technically just being a non-violent domestic dispute, and also can't do anything to help Melanie pressure Wade.
19	* CampGay: Melanie's associate Frederick.
20	* ChildhoodMarriagePromise: Jake to Melanie when they were 10 years old.
21	* CitySlicker: Kate and Andrew.
22	* CleaningUpRomanticLooseEnds: Even though Andrew is jilted at the altar, the end credits show Melanie reading his [[spoiler: wedding announcement to a New York socialite.]]
23	* ConvenientMiscarriage: The reason why Melanie and Jake split up after their ShotgunWedding.
24	* ChristianityIsCatholic: The officiant at Andrew and Melanie's wedding is a priest in the traditional frock. This might be Andrew's mother's doing, but it stands out, since the DeepSouth is largely Protestant, including Alabama, and usually averts this trope hard.
25	* DemotedToExtra: Melanie's intern Erin (who turns out to [[NonIdleRich be a Vanderbilt]]) is in several deleted scenes with Melanie and Andrew, including having a bit of a rapport with Melanie about having both started out as internships, but in the final film is omitted aside from a brief appearance in a photo during the closing credits scene [[spoiler:showing her getting married to Andrew]].
26	* DisposableFiance: Poor Andrew. He seems to take it well, though.
27	* DivorceIsTemporary: Played with. Melanie and Jake never finalize their divorce and end up getting back together.
28	* EnormousEngagementRing: When she finds out her son is engaged, Kate mentions that Melanie is wearing 'a skating rink on a very important finger.'
29	* EveryoneCanSeeIt: Melanie's chief model/bridesmaid Tabatha picks up on her feelings for Jake within ''seconds'' of seeing them together even while she's still with Andrew.
30	* FailedASpotCheck: Lampshaded when Andrew's mother grumbles about what happened to responsible journalism after finding out that Melanie lied about her past to reporters and never got caught.
31	* FailedAttemptAtDrama: When Jake and Melanie have their first fight, Jake closes his door on Melanie then pulls the shade down on her dramatically, but the shade keeps shooing up and refusing to stay down.
32	* FatAndSkinny: Jake's friends Eldon and Clinton.
33	* FirstGuyWins: Melanie and Jake knew each other as children, were already married at the beginning of the film, and we see young!Jake in a flashback in the opening sequence. Guess who she ends up with?
34	* FishOutOfWater: Melanie's parents have refused to go see her in New York due to feeling this. Sensing that, she volunteers to have the wedding out South to make up for them. Averted with Andrew himself when he comes out there.
35	* FootDraggingDivorcee: Jake, in spades. [[spoiler:Ironically, Melanie ends up being the one who fails to sign the divorce papers.]]
36	* FormerTeenRebel: Melanie and Jake, as shown by one of their arguments when he's trying to convince the sheriff to arrest her.
37	--> '''Jake:''' I supposed shoplifting steaks from Winn Dixie's okay?\
38	'''Melanie:''' Oh, Oh! I took 'em back and you know it!\
39	'''Jake:''' What about that incident of vandalism in the stockyard... totally her!\
40	'''Melanie:''' Like I could tip a cow... by myself!\
41	'''Jake:''' Wade, isn't there some outstanding for whoever drove your mama's tractor into the fishing pond?\
42	'''Melanie:''' (''[[OhCrap horrified realizing what he meant]]'') OH!
43	* FormerlyFat: Wade's wife, the bank teller, whose lost over a hundred pounds since High School.
44	* FriendlyRival: Melanie notes that she and Frederick are rival designers but neither seems that threatened by the other with him dropping by to congratulate her on an upcoming show, and also being invited to the wedding. The fact that she started out working for him and he views her as a protege helps.
45	* GayEuphemism: When Melanie asks Bobby Ray about his high school girlfriend, he says she's a softball coach in Nashville, and Melanie seems to catch his drift about the implications. Subverted later, when Melanie ''tries'' to use euphemisms while outing Bobby Ray, before just yelling that he should go to a gay bar.
46	* HeartIsWhereTheHomeIs: We have an Alabama vs. New York love triangle (which, granted, are about as different as different countries to some people).
47	* IJustWantToBeSpecial: Implied to be the reason why Melanie ran away to New York City after her miscarriage.
48	* InSeriesNickname: Melanie is known around her hometown as "Felony Melanie." She doesn't appear to mind very much, beyond some eye-rolling.
49	* {{Jerkass}}: Melanie is absolutely unpleasant to be around, especially when she drunkenly insults everyone in a bar. She gets better as the film goes on though.
50	* KissingCousins: PlayedForLaughs when Jake pretends to be Melanie's cousin to Andrew and then he finds out they used to be together before realizing that she was lying about their relationship.
51	--> '''Andrew:''' You married your ''cousin''?
52	* AMinorKidroduction: Melanie's dream at the beginning of the film; also introduces their ChildhoodMarriagePromise.
53	* MarriedTooYoung: Another implied reason for the failure of Melanie and Jake's marriage.
54	* MistakenForCheating: In a Meta sense, the reason Erin was DemotedToExtra was because test audiences misinterpreted a scene where she was flirting with Andrew and he was turning her down for him returning her interest.
55	* NiceToTheWaiter: A deleted scene has Melanie snapping at Erin for spilling coffee, but then afterwards login over to her to apologize, saying she's done ok and ruefully noting about how she'd always told herself that she wouldn't be the kind of person to get mad at her assistants back when ''she'' was an intern.
56	* OopsIForgotIWasMarried: Played with. Both Jake and Melanie are aware they got married, that's kind of the plot of the film, but they both forget the ''legal'' implications of this. Such as when Jake tries to get Melanie removed from his home by the sheriff, only to be told because they're still married it's her house, too, or when Melanie goes to the bank to find she still has access to their joint checking account.
57	* OpenSecret: Bobby Ray Carmichael's sexuality. When Melanie drunkenly outs him, all the women (and several of the men) present are horrified on his behalf, suggesting that they already knew.
58	* PairTheSpares: The only two gay characters in the film share a sexually-charged look during the non-divorce party at the end of the film.
59	* PornStache: Sheriff Wade.
60	* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: Melanie lies to Andrew and publicly humiliates him, dumping him at the altar. But it's romantic, apparently.
61	* RichBitch: Melanie.
62	* RichSuitorPoorSuitor: Andrew vs Jake.
63	* RomComJob: Melanie is a fashion designer, Jake makes glassware.
64	* RomanticRain: After [[spoiler: leaving Andrew at the altar,]] Melanie goes to find Jake to tell him [[spoiler: she didn't sign the divorce papers and didn't get married]], and their reconciliation happens on the beach in the pouring rain.
65	* SelfMadeMan: Jake starts a glassware business that turns successful, in order to win Melanie back.
66	* ShotgunWedding: The reason Jake and Melanie were married in the first place. They broke up after her ConvenientMiscarriage.
67	* SimpleCountryLawyer: Mr.. Buford, Melanie's dapper, heavily-accented divorce lawyer.
68	* SplitScreenPhoneCall: A deleted scene between Andrew, Kate, Melanie and Tabatha all on the phone.
69	* StraightGay: Bobby Ray.
70	* SweetHomeAlabama: Obviously.
71	* TechnologicallyBlindElders: The local bank owner has refused to get an ATM due to feeling it robs customers of personal interactions.
72	* TheCityVsTheCountry: Essentially the plot of the film.
73	* UnableToSupportAWife: It's implied that Jake thinks this is the reason Melanie left him, and he's trying to become a SelfMadeMan with his glass business so that she will come back to him.
74	* VicariouslyAmbitious: Melanie's mother entered her in all kinds of pageants and urged her to move out of town for her whole life. Andrew's mother Kate also wants him to be president someday (not that she isn't successful herself).
75	* WackyMarriageProposal: Andrew invites Melanie to a building with the lights out, then turns on the lights to show her that they're in Tiffany's, telling her to pick whichever ring she wants.
76	* WhamLine: [[spoiler: Right when Melanie's being walked down the aisle, Mr. Buford interrupts the wedding to deliver one to her]].
77	-->[[spoiler:'''Melanie:''' Mr. Buford, [Jake] signed the papers, what are you doin' here?\
78	'''Mr. Buford:''' ''He'' did. ...You ''didn't''.]]

Context Film / SweetHomeAlabama