'Sweet Home' Attempts to Avoid Southern Stereotypes

"Sweet Home Alabama"

But thankfully, "Sweet Home Alabama" treats this conflict by going far beyond characterizing Southerners as redneck yahoos who believe the Confederacy will rise again.

Reese Witherspoon stars as Melanie Carmichael, an expatriate Alabama girl preparing her first show as a fashion designer in New York City. She's dating Andy (Patrick Dempsey), Manhattan's most eligible bachelor and son of the city's mayor (Candice Bergen).

After the too-perfect Andy proposes to Melanie -- in Tiffany's, no less -- she returns to her hometown of Pigeon Creek, Ala., to obtain a divorce from Jake (Josh Lucas), whom she married straight out of high school and subsequently abandoned for the glamour of the big city.

Predictably, this return home gives Melanie the opportunity to reconsider her romantic choices, and while the film has the requisite amount of schmaltz, especially near the end, it also has an interesting edge. Thanks to screenwriter C. Jay Cox, emotions and complications run much deeper than the typical romantic comedy.

Jake and Melanie have a definite chemistry when they meet again, but their turbulent past keeps getting in the way.

One particular scene has Melanie drunkenly insulting her childhood friends for their supposedly ignorant ways, and until Jake signs the divorce papers, she even stoops so low as to withdraw all the money from their still-joint checking account.

These actions play upon the city-versus-country dynamic in an intriguing way. Melanie's choices show the delinquent effect New York has had on her, while those she left behind are still nursing the palpable hurt caused by her abandonment.

What really makes this conflict pop is the sense of authenticity the filmmakers give to their depiction of the South. Witherspoon, a native of Tennessee, helps immensely with pulling off that believability, and Arkansas-born Lucas deftly recalls his roots in one of his first major film roles.

While many of the non-Southern actors aren't as convincing -- as Melanie's father, Fred Ward's accent fades in and out -- the scenes in Alabama still feel real. It's understandable why Melanie has second thoughts.

On the other hand, to make this choice obvious, the big city has to suffer. Candice Bergen is saddled with such a cardboard, unlikable character that it's difficult to believe that anyone would vote for her. The South isn't fraught with racist hicks, and similarly, New York isn't full of heartless go-getters.

It's nice to see the South treated with unusual sympathy and appreciation, but swapping one stereotype for another does not adequately level the cinematic playing field.

The Arts & Entertainment Editor can be reached at artsdesk@unc.edu.