Anyway, this week's movie review is for...
Sweet Home Alabama
So, here's the movie in a nutshell:
Reese plays a girl named Melanie who is making a name for herself in New York as a fashion designer. She's got everything a girl could want: a boyfriend named Andrew, the son of a very important political figure, who proposes to her... Inside of a Tiffany & Co. jewelry store (lucky bitch), she's cute, fashionable, successful, and everybody loves her-- except for her fiance's mother. In order to tie the knot with Andrew, Melanie must go back to her hometown in Alabama to not only break the news to her parents... But also get her previous husband, the epitome of a good ol' Southern boy, to finally sign their divorce papers. Hilarity and loads of political incorrectness ensue. Sure, lots of people from the south talk with a "twang" in their voice, live in the boonies, shop at Piggly Wiggly, drink beer, get excited about recliners, and say "ain't" all the time, but this movie, in a way, made me feel like everybody from the south was VERY "simple". But... Whatever.
On to the review!
Visual: 8 - So, this movie definitely shows the stark contrast between the north and the south. The north is shown as nothing but sterile greys and whites, while the south is shown as nothing but greens, yellows, and other earthy tones. The sets that show rooms in New York are very clean, neat, and everything is placed with purpose. The sets that show rooms in Alabama are very cluttered and epitomize the phrase "lived in". It actually works out. Other than that, Alabama apparently doesn't have ATM machines and only has dial-up internet. Right.
Acting: 7 - Pretty good, actually. It's not that tough to pull off the southern hick "twang" that spews from the mouths of just about every actor in this movie. Reese, of course, pulls off said "twang" so well, that it actually makes her look cute. Love it!
Story/Backstory: 7 - It's alright. Different, yes, but seems very implausible, if you ask me. So, a girl wants to get divorced so that she can go to New York and make something of herself, her husband refuses to sign the divorce papers... And she just lets that shit go?! What? Yeah, does that shit really happen? I dunno.
Score/Soundtrack: 10 - Oh my God, the soundtrack to this is amazing. It's got all those good old country hits like "Keep Your Hands to Yourself" by The Charlie Daniel's Band and "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynard Skynard. That's the kind of country I can listen to, every other kind of country makes me want to puke.
Characters/Character Development: 6 - So, this didn't get a really good score, because half of the characters in this movie represent the epitome of every stereotype that a majority of yankee assholes think up for us "Southerners". You've got the not-quite-as-dumb-as-rocks fella with a big coon dog, a closet homosexual that's a sweetie but is terrified of being gay, two inseparable fat-guys, one of them with the biggest mullet I've ever seen, a woman who's got three children and brings one that's "still on the tit" to a honkey tonk bar because she can "cart 'im anywhere", and signs in said bar that state "No dancing on tables while wearing spurs"... Really? Is that how we're seen down here in the south? Christ, save me.
Overall: 7.6 - Not the best move Reese has ever been in, but I think that all those low scores is due to the fact that this movie seems more to make fun of the south than anything else. Okay, so maybe SOME parts of the south are VERY much like this movie and some parts of this movie make me feel a bit of longing for a small-town country life. But, I think I'd end up more like Reese's character and escape to the city... But I would NEVER become a yankee. :P
Okay, let me give it to your staight, toots....(haha)
ReplyDeleteOne, the South as depicted in this movie is VERY close to a lot of people I know personally. I mean, "two inseperable fat guys"? Um, have you SEEN my brothers in law? But really, bars like that exist, and I was in one not but a month ago (dirt floor and a freaking DOG in the women's "bathroom"). And I have actually had a chick refer to her kids as "being on the tit" before this movie ever came out.
Luckily, we live in a somewhat civilized not so small town in the South, so we don't have to be exposed to this type of "stereotyping".....but sadly, there ARE places just like that that exist MORE than not. I mean, look at St. George. There are only two ATMs in the whole damn town!
Two, "Keep your Hands to Yourself" is by the Georgia Sattelites (even though their version is not the one used in this movie). Charlie Daniels, Georgia Sattelites and Lynyrd Skynyrd are SOUTHERN ROCK, not country....close, but edgier.
Okay, carry one.....good review by the way.
That... Is just very, very sad. I feel sorry that you had to endure being a bar like that. Maybe I'm just very sheltered, I guess, when it comes to that. lol
ReplyDeleteAs for your musical corrections? I stand corrected, Sissy, thank you! lol I guess it IS Southern Rock and not Country, probably why I like it better than Country! :P
Thanks for the band corrections, too! I feel bad that I didn't know these off the top of my head; I should really be ashamed of myself! XD
No, Kid....never feel bad for not "knowing something off the top of your head" when it comes to music, because I am just a damn freak. And YES, you liked the soundtrack because it is southern rock and not country. Modern day country is shit and you would DEFINATELY recognize old country.
ReplyDeleteAnd no need to feel sorry for me for having to endure the "Rivals II" bar. I always welcome a show and BOY was that a show!! One of the best places to people watch and BOY does it give you fodder for the ole blog!