By BETH JONES
THE ROANOKE TIMES

Archives Reprint

   In "Sweet Home Alabama," the South is a place where men live for Civil War re-enactments, women spend their days making fried pickles and bologna cake and coon dogs are so special they rate their own cemetery.

    Director Andy Tennant's portrait of Alabama is almost as inaccurate as the movie's Southern accents.

    Reese Witherspoon at least manages to sound like she could come from Alabama (She did grow up in Tennessee after all) and she does her best to save this uneven romantic comedy.

    Witherspoon is supremely talented. Her fine performance transformed last year's "Legally Blonde" from a mediocre story into a genuinely fun movie. But her charisma isn't enough this time around.

    Witherspoon plays Melanie, a New York fashion designer who's dating New York's most eligible bachelor, Andrew (Patrick Dempsey).

    In a scene shown over and over again in the film's ads, Melanie is brought to Tiffany's after hours and told by her boyfriend to pick an engagement ring.

    She says yes, but before she can marry him she has to divorce first husband Jake (Josh Lucas), whom she hasn't seen in seven years. So she returns home to Alabama and once she's there she rediscovers the magic of her hometown. She also remembers how sexy and appealing Jake can be.

    So, of course, Melanie begins to doubt her love for Andrew. As if there's any choice to make. Andrew may be wealthy. He may be the mayor's son, but he has amazingly pouffy hair. What, does he think he's Elvis or something?

    The screenwriters seem unsure whether they like Andrew either. At first it seems as if he's only marrying Melanie to make his overbearing mother (Candice Bergen) angry. He's the bad guy. Later, he's painted as the sensitive, caring type.

    Still, Andrew isn't nice enough that you actually root for him and Melanie to stay together. Especially with rugged Jake and his non-pouffy hair in the picture.

    In publicity materials, one of the movie's producers, Neal Moritz, explained that the filmmakers wanted to avoid romantic comedy cliches with "Sweet Home Alabama."

    "We've tried to put in a number of twists and turns to give the audience a movie they haven't seen before," he said

    I'm not sure which twists and turns he means. Maybe it's the bit about a cat who got dynamited but lived. If so, I could have used fewer twists and turns and a more developed love story between Jake and Melanie. We know they married right out of high school because Melanie was pregnant. She later lost the baby, but the sad history between the two is never explored.

    You get the feeling that Tennant - whose films range from "Anna and the King" to "It Takes Two" featuring Kirstie Alley and the Olsen twins - wants to make a sophisticated comedy but isn't sure how to do it.

    There are some funny moments and Witherspoon, as always, is a joy to watch. Overall, though, this romantic comedy is predictable and uninspiring.

    Beth Jones can be reached at 777-6493 or beth.jones@roanoke.com.

    Sweet Home Alabama

    HH

    A Touchstone Pictures release showing at Carmike 10 at Tanglewood Mall, Salem Valley 8 and Valley View Grande 16. Rated PG-13 for language. One hour, 43 minutes.

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