I think he was a stock-car driver. A young woman who has reinvented herself as a New York City socialite must return home to Alabama to obtain a divorce from her husband after seven years of separation.A young woman who has reinvented herself as a New York City socialite must return home to Alabama to obtain a divorce from her husband after seven years of separation.A young woman who has reinvented herself as a New York City socialite must return home to Alabama to obtain a divorce from her husband after seven years of separation. Its now been 15 years since the film was released, so heres a look back at 7 things you probably didnt know about Sweet Home Alabama! Answer: Mayor of New York. I had lunch with her not that long before I turned in the "Sweet Home Alabama" script. I knew from then on that this was unique. Sweet home Alabama, oh, sweet home baby Sweet Home Alabama - Genius My kids were going through college so it got me thinking about a new generation of kids going to school and young love and what that would do to parents when they see their kids being real grown-ups. So I went home and talked to my wife and she said, "I was proposed to at Tiffany's." caitlyn smith starfire vinyl. Everyone is in shock. The romantic comedy originally ended with a fake-out that Reese Witherspoons character was dead. Charlize Theron was originally supposed to star in the movie. Tennant recalled taking a trip to the South before rewriting the movie, and that helped cement its southern feel. When Jake shows up in the scene, Melanie is at her most vulnerable and they kiss. Roll credits. By clicking Sign up, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider Question: The clips shown in the credits of the movie; is the child featured in their now happy lives, Witherspoons' daughter Ava? With a $35.6 million opening weekend, the movie held the record for the best-ever September opening for 10 years. She can be found in the finished version of the film at the end when Melanie is shown a newspaper wedding announcement during the closing credits. What is humane about blowing it up and if it was gonna die of cancer all those years ago why is it still roaming around town? (01:36:20), Revealing mistake: 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. 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. As Melanie is walking across the battlefield looking for her father she steps across 'dead bodies'. This is why Reese says, "People need a passport to come down here." Nobody had told me beforehand this movie is going to be a big success. [5], The song remains a staple in southern and classic rock, and is arguably the band's signature song. Visible crew/equipment: As Melanie is walking across the battlefield looking for her father she steps across 'dead bodies'. And thats just what the movie-going audience was looking for back in 2002. 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. They then go and dance as the Lynyrd Skynyrd song "Sweet Home Alabama" plays. paul pion cantor net worth. Sweet Home Alabama is a romantic comedy film that was directed by Andy Tennant. Nonetheless, Clayton was persuaded to take the job, to "let the music be [her] protest. But neither can escape the fandom people have for "Sweet Home Alabama.". Reese Witherspoon's Sweet Home Alabama Co-Star Explains The 'Issue 'Sweet Home Alabama' cast list: From Reese Witherspoon to Josh who (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. Josh came in from New York and we had several women producers and casting directors say he was gorgeous, great, charming, and had a great voice. 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 . When you get slapped and it's cold, it's a lot worse. I think my big takeaway for the rewrite for me and my writing partner, Rick Parks, was that in the original script, I think the fianc of Reese's character was a complete tool and the guy down South was a hunky, handsome guy. Andrew is engaged to a girl named Erin Vanderbilt. This could mean that the Sang-wook we see in the final scene is in fact Ui . 618 Sweet Home Alabama Premium High Res Photos - Getty Images A mid-credits sequence shows that they have a baby daughter, Melanie continues to thrive as a designer, and Jake opens a "Deep South Glass" franchise in New York. So we were talking to a waitress and we got into this whole conversation with some of the locals about how this is what it must have felt like back during the Civil War hearing those cannons not too far from where you were. ", Tennant: I have done two movies with Josh, I love Josh. In the two decades since it was made, "Sweet Home Alabama" went from an unwanted script to a surprise box-office hit to a rom-com classic. 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) She is a director's dream. ". 7. Welcome to Sweet Home Alabama Road Sign in Alabama USA, Entering Sweet Home Alabama Road Highway Welcome Sign, Sweet home alabama welcome sign at rest area stop off highway, Welcome Sign to Sweet Home Alabama Road along Interstate 10 Photo Image, Aerial photo Welcome to Sweet Home Alabama USA, Alabama We Dare Defend Our Rights State Motto, George Wallace Plaque Alabama Visitors Center, Old used ticket for the concert of Lynyrd Skynyrd at Shoreline Amphitheatre. Sweet Home Alabama was the first film allowed to shoot in New York City after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Josh and I continue to lobby Reese, but she's busy. Answer: She had a miscarriage. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators . Pet cemeteries, just like human, have sturdy stone headstones to withstand the elements, not plastic. And I think that was her first on-camera kiss. I would say in some ways we pushed each other to try, I think, to find truth. Lucas was convinced he wasn't connecting with Witherspoon and was going to get fired. 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 . These numbers may not look so striking now, but they were, in the context of 17 years ago, really quite something. The ending was included on the DVD of the film, and itd be fair to say that at first, its something of a shock. Although the film takes place primarily in the fictional town of Pigeon Creek, near a fictional Greenville, Alabama, it was mostly shot in Georgia. Played by Katharine Towne, the character was cut from the film after test audiences were confused about her relationship with Andrew. I agree with TheWrap's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy and provide my consent to receive marketing communications from them. (01:08:15) Continuity mistake: At the end of the movie, when Melanie is on the beach with Jake and she . Melanie confesses that she still loves Jake and cancels the wedding. I knew Reese because I had done a TV movie with her when she was 15. You can see tucked into the top of her left boot the battery pack for her microphone and the wires going up her skirt. She calls off the wedding and heads down to the beach to plant lightning rods to create glass sculptures, where she confesses to Jake that she still loves him. He tells everyone "Melanie Carmichael is dead." "[13], Further complicating the racial politics of the song is the fact that Merry Clayton and Clydie King, two well-known black studio singers, are heard on the track as backing vocalists. Tennant said Parks had a dog who would jump in the water and fetch rocks that were at the bottom. 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. And I was like, "I've known her since she was 15. Then he auditioned to play the male lead, Jake, in "Sweet Home Alabama. View All Credits 1 693.6K 126. It's a movie you'll forget you ever saw. "When we showed it to a test audience the whole room was just like, 'What the fuck!'" he said. She's great and committed, I knew she was going to be big. Actors know what works for them and I needed him to loosen up a little bit. 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. There really is a Sweet Home Alabama - al.com I would do everything and anything to work with Melanie Lynskey again. Where the skies are so blue and the governor's true, The choice of Birmingham in connection with the governor (rather than the capital of Montgomery) is significant because it was the site of civil rights activism and violence in the 1960s. The ending was reshot because test audiences thought Reese Witherspoon's character died. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a critical score of 38% based on 159 reviews, with an average rating of 5.19/10. It was written in response to Neil Young's 1970 song "Southern Man", which the band felt blamed the entire South for American slavery; Young is name-checked and dissed in the lyrics. Kepulangan Melanie ke Alabama pun berubah menjadi momen kurang mengenakkan bagi orang-orang di sekitarnya. Question: In the scene where Jake is driving Andrew to find Melanie, he tells the story about the cat. We shot it at the actual Tiffany's in New York City. I was in no way established or had any real career to back that up. George Watters II. UK DVD and Blu-ray release dates confirmed: up to mid-2023, Passion Of The Christ 2 set to be on eve of production, James Cameron reveals The Abyss and True Lies getting 4K disc releases this year. But that's as close as I got. After wealthy Andrew Hennings proposes, Melanie returns to Alabama to announce her engagement to her parents and finalize a divorce from her husband Jake, whom she married as a pregnant teenager and left after she miscarried their baby. They were like, "What did you do?" She would be great." What is humane about blowing it up and if it was gonna die of cancer all those years ago why is it still roaming around town? Tagged: Sweet Home Alabama, First Love. Engaged to Andrew, the son of New York City's mayor, Melanie knows she has to go home to Pigeon Creek, Ala., and face her past before her . For its used as a device to announce that Melanie under her old surname is dead, and Melanie under her new surname is alive. The loss of their kid, the loss of their dreams, the loss of innocence, all that stuff. The stuff she does in every take is wonderful. 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. Lucas: We were in it. Humor has changed and also I think it's such a dark time right now that the divide between cultures is just not funny. As Melanie is walking across the battlefield looking for her father she steps across 'dead bodies'. "Sweet Home Alabama" is a song by American southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, released on the band's second album Second Helping (1974). Spoiler warning: the ending of Sweet Home Alabama is directly discussed towards the end of this article. "[2] At Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 45 out of 100 based on 35 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". And I was like, "What!?! So I think there was an intensity to the work experience that I think in some ways Andy was able to utilize. We all talked about accents and stuff in terms of toning ithaving a gentle, subtle, quiet element to it. A young woman who has reinvented herself as a New York City socialite must return home to Alabama to obtain a divorce from her husband after seven years of separation. But in the original ending, there was a fake-out that made audiences believe that Melanie died out on that beach. 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. [1], Sweet Home Alabama (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), the film soundtrack, includes thirteen songs by different artists. Design and text 1996 - 2023 Jon Sandys. It received a mixed critical reception[2] but was a success at the box office.[1]. Tennant: I was given the script; it wasn't very good. (c) universal music publishing, inc. But poor Josh was whacked a good number of times. 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. It's a riddle to me. "Southern Comforts: 25 Best Songs About the South", "Unfurling 'Sweet Home Alabama,' A Tapestry Of Southern Discomfort", "The 25 Greatest Lynyrd Skynyrd Songs of All Time", Cash Box Top 100 Singles, October 19, 1974, "Lynyrd Skynyrd Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)", Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 28, 1974, "Danish single certifications Lynyrd Skynyrd Sweet Home Alabama", "Italian single certifications Lynyrd Skynyrd Sweet Home Alabama", "British single certifications Lynyrd Skynyrd Sweet Home Alabama", "American single certifications Lynyrd Skynyrd Sweet Home Alabama", Recording Industry Association of America, "Lynyrd Skynyrd Song Turns Alabama Tourist Theme", State's New License Plates Feature Beach Scene and 'Sweet Home Alabama', "Dave Mustaine wrote a Metallica song ripping off "Sweet Home Alabama". Sweet Home Alabama. In the original scene, she slaps him and walks away. It is , however, a good. All rights reserved. Contact me | Privacy policy | Join the mailing list | Links. D In Birmingham they C love the G Gov'nor F Boo C hoo D hoo ! 3:58. THEN AND NOW: The cast of 'Sweet Home Alabama' 20 years later. Turns out this incredibly dark turn was intended in the original script as a joke, though. Expand. All rights reserved. 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." Tennant has written a treatment for a sequel to "Sweet Home Alabama." Tennant: What happened was Reese's daughter, Ava, went to school with my son, so I would see Reese on occasion. Intimidated by the city and her success, he returned home to make something of himself first. Trivia: 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. D Lord, I'm C coming home to G you. Director Andy Tennant did test the ending too, ultimately conceding that no one though it was funny. Bloodhounds are the most amazing dogs, but they aren't good film dogs. "I don't care about your past, all I want to know is if there's a place for me in your future.". 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. See production, box office & company info, Reese Witherspoon sweet performance makes this work. Tennant: I don't know how anybody deals with fame, I really don't. Sweet Home Alabama Guitar Tab, Lynyrd Skynyrd - Tabs4Acoustic So, its hard for me to get it back. The film cost some $30m, and would gross $127m in the US alone, off the back of a massive $35m opening in September of that year. Tennant: What happened was Reese's daughter, Ava, went to school with my son, so I would see Reese on occasion. "Sweet Home Alabama" lyrics on lynyrdskynyrdhistory.com, Lynyrd Skynyrd Lyve: The Vicious Cycle Tour, Skynyrd's First: The Complete Muscle Shoals Album, 20th Century Masters: The Best of Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Last of the Street Survivors Farewell Tour, God Must Have Spent a Little More Time on You, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sweet_Home_Alabama&oldid=1141674206, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Single chart usages for Billboardrocksongs, Certification Table Entry usages for Denmark, Pages using certification Table Entry with streaming figures, Certification Table Entry usages for Italy, Certification Table Entry usages for United Kingdom, Certification Table Entry usages for United States, Pages using certification Table Entry with sales figures, Pages using certification Table Entry with sales footnote, Pages using certification Table Entry with streaming footnote, Articles with MusicBrainz work identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, In 2002, the song inspired the title and plot of the film, This page was last edited on 26 February 2023, at 06:20. (01:06:40). I really broke my accent years ago. 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." . D Carry me C home to see my G kin. It was funny on paper and then when we shot it, when Josh says Melanie Carmichael is dead and you cut to Mary Kay with that reaction that her daughter is dead it was just like, Who thought this was funny? Apparently, I did., Tennant continued, When we showed it to a test audience the whole room was just like, What the fk! The audience loved the movie up until that shot. So I had to throw him off the dock and from that moment on he hated me. It was only humane from Melanie's skewed, immature-at-the-time perspective, believing the cat would be killed instantly. I was so uncomfortable and felt it wasn't working. I said, 'Clydie, are you serious? Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Fred Ward, Patrick Dempsey, Josh Lucas, Ethan Embry, Candice Bergen, Rhona Mitra, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Courtney Gains. Question: In the scene where Jake is driving Andrew to find Melanie, he tells the story about the cat. I'm in many ways a lot like him. The Carmichael Plantation, which Melanie tells the reporter is her childhood home, is the Oak Hill Berry Museum, a historic landmark in Georgia which is near the campus of Berry College in Rome, Georgia. It's not a popular opinion but Wallace stood for the average white guy in the South. Reese Witherspoon has been a part of a number of iconic movies over the years, including a short foray into rom-coms in the early '00s.The actress worked alongside Mark Ruffalo in Just Like . This left the door open for Reese Witherspoon, who was cast the same weekend that Legally Blonde hit the box office. Literally, Nina Jacobson, head of Buena Vista Pictures, walked up the aisle before the lights had even come up and said to me, Were reshooting the ending., Lucas told Insider that he liked the original ending I thought it was funny and silly and weird, he remembered and was worrid when word came down that they were reshooting it. On a beach in the fictional town of Pigeon Creek, Alabama, 10-year-old Jake Perry and Melanie Smooter inspect the result of lightning striking sand. Lynyrd Skynyrd and Neil Young: Friends or Foes? 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." More trivia for Sweet Home Alabama. Reese Witherspoon was at the height of her box office powers when she decided to take the lead in Sweet Home Alabama. If youd like to support our attempts to make a non-clickbaity movie website: Follow Film Stories on Twitterhere, and on Facebookhere. Answer: baby girl. 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. There are only two hitches. What do they say? "[13] Toward the end of the song, Van Zant adds "where the governor's true" to the chorus's "where the skies are so blue," a line seemingly contradictory to the previous lyrics. ", Lucas: I think that was true for Andy. "Hello Mr. Tennant, is there anything you need me to do?" I mean, truly attacked. There's this motto: Act like a movie star and people will treat you like a movie star. 5:02. About as unconventional as you can get for the end of whats effectively a fairy tale romantic comedy. Lucas: In the movie, he's my best friend but in reality, that dog was terrified of me. One . (Insider contacted Lynskey to be interviewed for this story but didn't get a response.) Then Ronnie wrote the lyrics and Ed and I wrote the music."[10]. Everyone had passed on it in town. Melanie reconciles with her friends and learns that after she split with Jake, he had followed her to New York to win her back. Mountain View, California - August 31, 1991 - Old used ticket for the concert of, Sweet Home Alabama Stock Photos, Images & Pictures. sweet home alabama road sign - sweet home alabama stock pictures, royalty-free photos & images dog days of summer - sweet home alabama stock pictures, royalty-free photos & images Reese Witherspoon attends the world premiere of Touchstone Pictures' 'Sweet Home Alabama' at the Chelsea West Cinema September 23, 2002 in New York. Tennant: That's a scene you don't expect in this kind of movie. Sweet Home Alabama (2002) ending / spoiler - Movie mistakes During Melanie and Andrew's wedding at the Carmichael estate, a lawyer arrives and halts the ceremony. I still like the plaque that hangs here in my office that says I'm an honorary member of the Alabama State Militiasigned personally by George C. Sure, the man had his flaws. "[5], The film grossed over US$35 million in its first weekend. she would say to me. In addition, Dakota Fanning and Thomas Curtis appear briefly as the childhood versions of Melanie and Jake, respectively. He claimed that the song was originally intended as the unabashed defense of Alabama, and even Wallace, that the song appears to be: {{blockquote|I can understand where the "boo boo boo" would be misunderstood. Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. 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 has the divorce papers, which Melanie hadn't signed. It's not US going "boo" it's what the Southern man hears the Northern man say every time the Southern man'd say "In Birmingham we love the gov'nor". It's a rather predictable romance that has a couple of twists and turns but nothing that keeps you on the edge of your seat. The script was just as bad as I thought it was before, but I thought the idea was great. Sweet Home Alabama Lynyrd Skynyrd Chords and Lyrics for Guitar In a sequence of them Melanie's parents are "scared" by a punk with a pierced tongue, Mel's co-worker from the beginning of the movie, who comments on her accent when she dreams. Tagged: Sweet Home Alabama, First Love. Ronnie and I were sitting there, and he kept saying, 'play that again'. And they were both like, "Put it back.". "We all did what WE could do!" 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. Melanie realizes Jake is the artist and that he owns the resort. ", 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. That part was eventually cut out of the movie. Design and text 1996 - 2023 Jon Sandys. But he spoke for the common man of the South. Pop Market DiscogsPop culture, or popular culture, is the collection of I was not someone who yearned to be famous and there was a point where I did see a shift. Lucas: I did think the ending would work. We had to build a fake dog head to come out of the water because the dog was just in an ideal world that dog was supposed to jump into the water. Watch Sweet Home Alabama Full Movie 2002 - video Dailymotion Lucas has built an impressive career that includes movies like "Hulk," "Glory Road," and "Ford v Ferrari." Even though the film received mixed reviews from critics, it has a huge cult following of fans who absolutely loved it and still cherish it as one of their favorite movies today. That led to me going to "director jail." And that turned out to be "Legally Blonde." Tennant: Rick and I drove around Alabama. "When we showed it to a test audience the whole room was just like, 'What the fuck!'" he said. When Melanie's mom says stuff like, "Go get them Yankees," and we play it for laughs, I don't know. Both Josh Lucas and Reese Witherspoon are from the south. I've done two movies with her, I did "Ever After" and this. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. 26 3. New York fashion designer Melanie (Reese Witherspoon) suddenly finds herself engaged to the city's most eligible bachelor. Jake and Melanie do this as a practical joke. We were the first movie to shoot there on the location since "Breakfast at Tiffany's.". It's just a lovely scene that has subtext, which Reese played beautifully. The plot of the film revolved around the life of Melanie, a successful fashion designer. Earl Smooter: You can't ride two horses with one ass, sugarbean. This Will Change Your View Of 'Sweet Home Alabama' - Bustle Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. Sweet Home Alabama (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) - Apple Music Melanie follows and gets drunk, insults her old school friends, and outs her longtime friend, Bobby Ray. It's just a thing. The song is credited to Matthew Shafer, Waddy Wachtel, R.J. Ritchie, Leroy Marinell, Warren Zevon, Edward King, Gary Rossington and Ronnie Van Zant. [6] For a decade, the film would hold this record until 2012 when Hotel Transylvania took it. ", Tennant has written a treatment for a sequel to "Sweet Home Alabama.". [11] In addition to the original appearance on Second Helping, the song has appeared on numerous Lynyrd Skynyrd compilations and live albums. So there were some intense moments. Contact me | Privacy policy | Join the mailing list | Links. And hardly anyone in America noticed. "Watergate doesn't bother me" because that stuff happens in politicsbut someone's conscience ought to bother them for what happened to Wallace. Melanie realises she didn't sign the divorce papers at the altar so she is still married to Jake. It held the record for best September opening for a decade. [13] Van Zant said: "Wallace and I have very little in common. When I did the rewrite with Rick, I don't think she was a fan and so everybody parted ways. Sweet Home Alabama. Katharine Towne was cast as Witherspoon's character's assistant who ultimately ends up marrying the Patrick Dempsey character, but all other scenes were dropped in the final cut. You can see tucked into the top of her left boot the battery pack for her microphone and the wires going up her skirt. I thought it was funny and silly and weird. The film although predictable is full of funny moments and a lot of heart. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Sweet Home Alabama - Full Cast & Crew - TV Guide Boo! Sweet Home ending explained: What happened in the season finale - HITC