Another part of "Sweet Home Alabama" was also controversial in its reference to George Wallace, the governor of Alabama and supporter of racial segregation: In Birmingham, they love the governor (boo boo boo) In addition, Dakota Fanning and Thomas Curtis appear briefly as the childhood versions of Melanie and Jake, respectively. In an interview with Garden & Gun, Rossington explained the writing process: "I had this little riff. He would see me and just walk the other way. Tennant: When I hear people still holding it dear to their heart I end up calling Josh and going, "God, I wish we were making Sweet Home Alabama 2. Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback. As Melanie is walking across the battlefield looking for her father she steps across 'dead bodies'. (Witherspoon's rep told Insider she was unavailable to be interviewed for this story. Ed King, the song's cowriter, contradicted his former bandmates in a 2009 post on his website. Spoiler warning: the ending of Sweet Home Alabama is directly discussed towards the end of this article. Melanie , Jake , Sweet Home Alabama. But it's still one of the best choices I ever made. AmyM. I don't like my words when I listen to it. raywest. Literally, Nina Jacobson, head of Buena Vista Pictures, walked up the aisle before the lights had even come up and said to me, "We're reshooting the ending.". But the main thing that happened when we were down there was we were having lunch and we heard these booms in the distance and it was like, "What the fuck is that?" She tells him they are still married, they return to what would have been Melanie and Andrew's reception, and finally, have their first dance as husband and wife. Lucas: I'll get stopped by firemen on the street in New York City and they will be like, "I hate romantic comedies, but I love that one." Visible crew/equipment: As Melanie is walking across the battlefield looking for her father she steps across 'dead bodies'. qatar to toronto flight status. From Reese Witherspoon to Josh Lucas. Answer: Mayor of New York. It is , however, a good. Lynyrd Skynyrd originally released Sweet Home Alabama written by Ed King, Gary Rossington and Ronnie Van Zant and Lynyrd Skynyrd released it on the album Second Helping in 1974. D Now we all C did what we could G do. He tells everyone "Melanie Carmichael is dead." Trivia: Erin Vanderbilt, the woman that Andrew is shown marrying at the end originally had a bigger part, but test audiences misunderstood her relationship with Andrew before breaking up with Melanie, so all of Erin's scenes were cut except for that small bit over the credits. So the funny negotiation of it all is they called me up and said, "Disney doesn't want you to do this movie, nobody wants you to do this movie except Andy, so they're offering you nothing, so take it or leave it." Indeed, the film grossed $180 million worldwide and is a constant fixture of cable TV. YOU'VE REACHED YOUR MONTHLY ARTICLE LIMIT. Sign up for notifications from Insider! I'm talking every single person on the movie. Apparently, the clincher was the moment when the parents were looking at their dead daughter didnt get any laughs. SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE DAILY NEWSLETTER, FIRST TAKE, Worry, Darling: September Box Office Plummets to Worst Levels in 25 Years, The Munsters Review: Rob Zombie Loves These Misfit Monsters but Fails to Make Them Funny. The early stuff in the movie, Melanie coming to Jake's house with the divorce papers for him to sign, we rehearsed that and there's a friction in the relationship and a real sense of love and passion underneath the surface. We needed someone who looked like Reese, and Dakota was 40 years old when she was 10. Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Fred Ward, Patrick Dempsey, Josh Lucas, Ethan Embry, Candice Bergen, Rhona Mitra, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Courtney Gains. Buy our Film Stories and Film Stories Junior print magazineshere. Because you can leer, you know, and because people definitely have the full thing, and with that you can over do it. With a $35.6 million opening weekend, the movie held the record for the best-ever September opening for 10 years. Danganronpa has little in the way of straight-up romance, but boy do the creators love teasing the hell out of some ships, especially ones that end in . We went to Aliceville and we just talked to people who would invite us onto their porch for some sweet tea. Witherspoon landed the lead role ahead of Charlize Theron, who was also considered, and the movie which co-stars Josh Lucas and Patrick Dempsey then plays out as something of a fairy tale. You can also see this in the pictures at the end of the movie. In order to depict two people from Alabama, they had to practice their Southern drawl. I'm in many ways a lot like him. (01:06:40). To mark the 20th anniversary of the movie's theatrical release, Insider spoke with Tennant and Lucas, who shared never-before-told stories about the making of the movie, including details about the original ending that needed to be reshot, the multiple slaps to the face Lucas took from Witherspoon for a scene that ended up being cut, and how the rom-com almost starred Charlize Theron. I hadn't seen it since around the time it first came out. And, whoa, I'm gonna get in trouble over this whole dang post!"[16]. Feb 27, 2003. Hell, maybe Jake now lives in a trailer park while Melanie had built this perfect life. D Lord, I'm C coming home to G you. Arthur Bremer may or may not have been a yankee but he sure destroyed whatever chance Wallace had to be president. [10], Last edited on 25 February 2023, at 05:08, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Various - Sweet Home Alabama (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) on Apple Music", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sweet_Home_Alabama_(film)&oldid=1141461745, Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild Award, Gary Rossington, Ronnie Van Zant, Edward King, Avril Lavigne, David Alspach, Lauren Christy, Graham Edwards, Matt Cantor, Pete Chill, Aston Harvey, Tenor Fly, "Felony Melanie - Sweet Home Alabama Suite (Score)", This page was last edited on 25 February 2023, at 05:08. "When we showed it to a test audience the whole room was just like, 'What the fuck!'" he said. Download Sweet Home Alabama stock photos. So I went home and talked to my wife and she said, "I was proposed to at Tiffany's." Add a different answer. The supporting cast includes Fred Ward, Mary Kay Place, Jean Smart, Candice Bergen, Ethan Embry, and Melanie Lynskey. Tennant: The studio felt the movie needed a better opening. Director Andy Tennant directed TV shows in the 1980s ("The Wonder Years," "Parker Lewis Can't Lose," "The Adventures of Brisco Country, Jr"), then moved to feature films in the mid-1990s ("It Takes Two," "Fools Rush In," "Ever After: A Cinderella Story"). ", Josh Lucas began acting at 19 and found work through his 20s on TV shows and movies; he even a did a TV series in Australia. Mary H. Ellis. I've been acting for 30 years now and I regularly have people ask me if I've ever made another movie. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Sweet Home Alabama is a romantic comedy starring Reese Witherspoon, Patrick Dempsey and Josh Lucas. 15. Charlize Theron was originally supposed to star in the movie. I would say in some ways we pushed each other to try, I think, to find truth. When Reese is leaving the dog cemetery, she brushes against one of the tombstones that has a stone dog on the top of it, yet as she walks past the dog begins to rock back and forth - clearly this is not a stone headstone. I don't know if anybody else wanted me, and I mean Disney (which released the movie by its then theatrical distribution arm, Buena Vista Pictures) and everyone from the power positions. But in the original ending, there was a fake-out that made audiences believe that Melanie died out on that beach. 0; It was also the first film ever allowed to film in Tiffanys since Breakfast at Tiffanys in 1961. For Reese, her accent came very quickly. (31,898) 6.2 1 h 48 min 2002 X-Ray PG-13. Jake's glassblowing shop was filmed at an old mill named Starr's Mill, in Fayette County, Georgia. Pet cemeteries, just like human, have sturdy stone headstones to withstand the elements, not plastic. It was an eye-opening experience. Now, not the way Patrick's character did it where it's private after-hours, but that began the idea. She is cornered there by Kate's assistant, sent to gather information on Melanie's background. Everyone had passed on it in town. Contact me | Privacy policy | Join the mailing list | Links. But Melanie's past holds many secrets, including Jake (Josh Lucas), the . It's the "almost" part that makes the movie work. I felt that I had become a star overnight and I had zero anticipation of that. This is why Reese says, "People need a passport to come down here." Always Be My Maybe. Sweet Home Alabama is a 2002 American romantic comedy film directed by Andy Tennant.Written by C. Jay Cox, it stars Reese Witherspoon, Josh Lucas and Patrick Dempsey.The supporting cast includes Fred Ward, Mary Kay Place, Jean Smart, Candice Bergen, Ethan Embry, and Melanie Lynskey.It was released in the United States on September 27, 2002, by Buena Vista Pictures. caitlyn smith starfire vinyl. Melanie visits Jake, who has repeatedly refused to sign divorce papers over the years since she left for New York. I haven't seen her in years. 3:58. I dont know why we thought that was really funny, director Andy Tennant told Insider. Spoiler warning: the ending of Sweet Home Alabama is directly discussed towards the end of this article. Lucas: We were in it. Get it? Lucas was convinced he wasn't connecting with Witherspoon and was going to get fired. In a sequence In the original scene, she slaps him and walks away. Kid Rock's 2008 song "All Summer Long" interpolates "Sweet Home Alabama" on the chorus and uses the guitar solo and piano outro, as well as the "turn it up" shout before the guitar solo; Billy Powell is featured on the track. (01:08:15), Continuity mistake: At the end of the movie, when Melanie is on the beach with Jake and she goes to kiss him she has her hands on his face, but in the next shot her arms are stretched out and she wraps them around his neck. Freestylers. The mildly entertaining romantic comedy Sweet Home Alabama features an equally take-it-or-leave-it soundtrack that mixes country, rock, and pop and excerpts of George Fenton's score. The film was directed by Andy Tennant, from a screenplay by C Jay Cox (with story credit going to Douglas J Epoch), and it tells the story of Melanie Smooter, a woman who left her home in Alabama for New York City. Why don't we do a love triangle where the love choices are between a great guy and the right guy? "Sweet Home Alabama" follows Melanie as she travels to her Alabama hometown to finalize her divorce from her childhood sweetheart, Jake (Lucas), so she can marry Andrew (Patrick Dempsey), the son of the New York City mayor (Candice Bergen). Jake announces, "Melanie Carmichael is dead" but then a few seconds later he says, "Long live Felony Melanie." So I think there was an intensity to the work experience that I think in some ways Andy was able to utilize. The reaction of Melanie's mother at the supposed death of her daughter apparently upset the test audiences so much, that the production crew reshot the whole reception scene, minus the practical joke. That's not who I am, and maybe that's why I was right for Jake and have a connection to him. In 1975, Van Zant said: "The lyrics about the governor of Alabama were misunderstood. Toward the end of the movie, Melanie's gay Black friend Frederick (Nathan Lee Graham) is in her mother's (Mary Kay Place) trailer talking about her decorative spoon collection. Apparently, I did. Posted by Simon Brew | Nov 16, 2021 | Feature. She and Jake have a heart-to-heart, and Melanie realises why he never signed their divorce papers. The 2002 romantic comedy "Sweet Home Alabama" ends predictably enough, with Reese Witherspoon's character matched with the right guy but the original ending to the film threw audiences a . Lucas: There wasn't much heat on the movie, we didn't have the premiere at a glitzy theater, but what happened there is to this day one of the strangest experiences of my life. I'm not singing nothing about nobody's sweet home Alabama. [13] Van Zant said: "Wallace and I have very little in common. "[4] "We thought Neil was shooting all the ducks in order to kill one or two," said Ronnie Van Zant at the time. The reaction of Melanie's mother at the supposed death of her daughter apparently upset the test audiences so much, that the production crew reshot the whole reception scene, minus the practical joke. It was a Civil War reenactment going on eight or 10 miles away. A list about the best ships in the DR franchise so far!Enjoy!Sources: thetoptensMusic: Despair Searching - Remix Cover (Danganronpa V3: . I mean, truly attacked. There, she became a socialite, but after nearly a decade away, she needs to come back home to secure a divorce from her husband. Tennant: Melanie slapped Jake for a variety of reasons. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. I knew from then on that this was unique. (Insider contacted Lynskey to be interviewed for this story but didn't get a response.) Trivia. Played by Katharine Towne, the character was cut from the film after test audiences were confused about her relationship with Andrew. after that particular line, and the media picked up only on the reference to the people loving the governor. The film although predictable is full of funny moments and a lot of heart. I don't like what he says about colored people. After he orders her out of his house, Melanie empties Jake's checking account, hoping to spur him into ending the marriage. Andrew arrives to surprise Melanie, but upon learning her true background and that she never told him she was married, he angrily leaves. It is sampled by Kid Rock. Download Sweet Home Alabama stock photos. Visible crew/equipment: As Melanie is walking across the battlefield looking for her father she steps across 'dead bodies'. Journalist Al Swenson argues that the song is more complex than many believe and is not an endorsement of Wallace. And it was cold out that night. But neither can escape the fandom people have for "Sweet Home Alabama.". Melanie is engaged, but her past holds secrets in Alabama. Boo! Print. 7 biggest mistakes in Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens, The 20 biggest mistakes in The Wizard of Oz, 40 biggest mistakes in The Big Bang Theory, 6 Cool things you've never noticed in movies, The biggest mistakes in the Harry Potter movies, 25 mistakes you never noticed in great movies, 7 mistakes in Beetlejuice you never spotted, More questions & answers from Sweet Home Alabama. Add to favorites. For its used as a device to announce that Melanie under her old surname is dead, and Melanie under her new surname is alive. Melanie realizes Jake is the artist and that he owns the resort. Lucas is from Arkansas and Witherspoons from Tennessee, but theyve since moved away and lost most of their accents. And I think there was a lot of fear on her part about me and what I was going to bring because she couldn't look at any past work of mine and understand why I was cast. I think we all got to be precise with each other. U kunt uw keuzes te allen tijde wijzigen door te klikken op de links 'Privacydashboard' op onze sites en in onze apps. Andy told me there would be an honesty to it. Melanie realises she didn't sign the divorce papers at the altar so she is still married to Jake. She's recalling the life she had with Jake and the baby they lost due to her miscarriage. Tennant: I may have had Reese slap him a few more times just to fuck with him. Tennant: When we showed it to a test audience the whole room was just like, "What the fuck!" Where are those four characters now: Melanie, Jake, Andrew, and Melanie Lynskey's character, Lurlynn? She was just jokin around. Tennant: "Sweet Home Alabama" is on all the time. ", Lucas: I remember the audition so well because I don't know if there's a handful of auditions that I've ever had that I felt worse about. It never bodes well when you hear youre doing a major reshoot, but it worked out.. It is still roaming town because it somehow survived the attempt to blow it up and it either never had cancer or has gone into remission. We would have lunch every year or so. As my mom and I left, I got attacked basically by paparazzi. There was an intensity of pain and past and history. I might have been the lowest-paid actor in the entire movie. By this stage in the early 2000s, shed built a career quickly and impressively off a mix of very smart choices and very savvy commercial picks. This film received mostly mixed reviews from critics. Answer: baby girl. Melanie goes to the Carmichael plantation and apologizes to Bobby Ray, whose family lives there. It was also the first film ever allowed to film in Tiffany's . Everyone was like, "OK, that was easy. It going as spoiler light as I can (spoilers start shortly) follows a fairly predictable three act approach, ending roughly where most of us expected it to end. Pop Market DiscogsPop culture, or popular culture, is the collection of ideas, opinions, and images popular within a culture at a given time. Als u niet wilt dat wij en onze partners cookies en persoonsgegevens voor deze aanvullende doeleinden gebruiken, klik dan op 'Alles weigeren'. But that's as close as I got. It has come and gone ever since and I'm now way further beyond that where I don't give it much credence either way. D I miss'ole' ' C bamy once a G gain (and I think it's a sin) D Well, I heard ole C Neil put her G down. And she told me how a former boyfriend had proposed there. When Tennant and Parks handed in the rewrite, one of the major notes from the studio was that the proposal Andrew gives Melanie at the beginning of the movie wasn't special enough. The film takes its title . when she dreams. Copyright 2000-2023 Dreamstime. 26 3. Tagged: Sweet Home Alabama, First Love. Then Ronnie wrote the lyrics and Ed and I wrote the music."[10]. But things get complicated once Melanie comes face-to-face with Jake again. The film tells the story of Melanie Smooter, a Southern girl from a small town who becomes estranged from her past after she moves to New York to become a fashion designer. She is a director's dream. The reaction of Melanie's mother at the supposed death of her daughter apparently upset the test audiences so much, that the production crew reshot the whole reception scene, minus the practical joke. He was a Jefferson County Commissioner and is credited with helping bring the University of Alabama Medical Center to Birmingham. Lucas: It never bodes well when you hear you're doing a major reshoot, but it worked out. 12. It is still roaming town because it somehow survived the attempt to blow it up and it either never had cancer or has gone into remission. 5:02. And I was like, "I've known her since she was 15. ". They were developing it for Charlize to star. What happens next undermines that ending, though, as her husband seemingly carries the corpse of Melanie back into the wedding reception and announces that shes dead. Some of it was, "Josh, punch line. I was in director jail for about a year and then "Sweet Home Alabama" came around again. It was released in the United States on September 27, 2002, by Buena Vista Pictures. In the movie's most dramatic scene, Melanie goes to see the gravesite of her old dog Bear. Andy just kept having my back. tab. It's just a thing. Reese Witherspoon has good chemistry with both Patrick Dempsey and Josh Lucas. Unheard of. I regularly have that happen. Now Watergate does not bother me His mother hates her, and Melanie's ex-husband hasn't signed . Lucas: She rung my bell a couple of times. ", Tennant: There was never a named actor attached to play Jake. When the movie . The scene cuts to Fred Ward, playing Melanie's father, giving a snarky look as the two talk. Ed Araquel/Netflix. When the movie got to like 13 to 14 years later, I started thinking where they would all be. They were laying on the limousine as we drove away. We were just catching up and I asked, "What have you been up to?" Lucas: I know Andy has written something but I've never read it. What I think worked for us is it was all true. See production, box office & company info, Reese Witherspoon sweet performance makes this work. Jake: It's funny how they do. You can see tucked into the top of her left boot the battery pack for her microphone and the wires going up her skirt. 13. Lynyrd Skynyrd. Tennant: I don't know how anybody deals with fame, I really don't. Most of the downtown scenes were filmed in Crawfordville and Taliaferro County. Josh Lucas was the first to admit in his interview with IGN that hes not the best at comedy, so he relied on his co-star, Reese Witherspoon for help. Busy city girl comes to her rural idealic small town. Use them in commercial designs under lifetime, perpetual & worldwide rights. During the film's original outdoor reception Jake carries Melanie, who feigns death after having supposedly been struck by a lightening bolt, towards the wedding guests. Even though theyd known each other for a while prior to working together, Reese didnt remember who he was!