2002, 1 hr 45 min., Rated PG-13 for some language/sexual references.�Dir: Andy Tennant. Cast: Reese Witherspoon (Melanie Smooter/Carmichael), Josh Lucas (Jake Parry), Patrick Dempsey (Andrew, Mayor's son), Fred Ward (Mr. Smooter), Mary Kay Place (Mrs. Smooter), Jean Smart (Stella Parry), Candice Bergen (The Mayor), Ethan Embry (Bobby Ray), Melanie Lynskey (Lurlynn).

There are very few movies that Southerners can watch about their region from Hollywood and think, �Gosh that makes me feel good.� Too many times there�s a sense that the filmmakers are making fun of all of us, and it�s downright insulting. Sweet Home Alabama is not one of those movies. Just think of it as "My Big Fat Southern Wedding," in that there could be a disclaimer noting: No ethnic stereotypes were harmed in the making of this movie. I should also note that it was filmed outside of Atlanta, Georgia, not Alabama, but that doesn�t change the look. Besides, Lynyrd Skynyrd is universal. "Sweet Home Alabama," indeed!

Still, I have a feeling that people outside the South will see this movie and think the region is being made fun of, but from the point of view of the dozens of people in my theater, we thought it was sweet and a darn good time. I�ll bet that more people from the South than outside will see this movie, because it�s so endearing to our way of life. Even if you�ve lived in the city your whole life, you have family in the country and friends in the small towns that are homespun. Looking at Reese�s parents home, I can picture so many different homes that I relate to, and people that I know and love.

I think in large part this can be attributed to Witherspoon starring. She�s a good Nashville girl, and I�ve read numerous interviews where she talks about being proud to use her Southern accent and profess love for the country where she grew up (yes, it can be a different country sometimes, as she notes in the movie: �People need a passport to come here.�). The funny thing is, too, that while I sound like I�m complaining about such treatment, my family would smack me on the side of the head and say, �It doesn�t matter what they think about us, so just take a breath and have some of this pot roast.� Yep, carry me home to see my kin, 'cause they sure do know how to pick you up when you're feeling blue.

Still, I�ve got to be honest and note that the only time I felt this was being Hollywood-ized was when they decided to throw in a Southern boy-gets outed-as gay sub-subplot, but I�ll just accept it and think of it as a way of showing that good ol� boys aren�t going to lynch someone for being different. Plus, they also throw in a funny dig at New York elitist Democrats, so we�re even.

Reese would understand. She is such a doll, and truly deserves all the success in the world for what she brings to the big screen. A joy to watch, she can be gentle and feisty in the same scene, yet always charming because you never feel that she�s having to pull some deep acting skills out of her pocket. They�re already there. Her love interest, at least in New York, is Patrick Dempsey, who is still trying to buy love. He�s actually a great guy, and you feel like Reese would be happy with him, but he�s no Jake (played by Josh Lucas, channeling Matthew McConaughey). Actually, everyone in the film is likable, even Candice Bergen as Dempsey�s snooty New York Mayor mother. She just needs some trainin� in manners.

Sweet Home Alabama is the kind of movie where you know the ending before it even begins, so you can sit back and enjoy the personal journey that Reese takes to finding her roots. Bless their hearts, trust me, there are many hoity-toity Southerners who went north and became Yankee-ized, looking down at their past, and even elitists who never left but live in the big cities of the South and thumb their noses at their brethren just a few miles away. Sorry for them, because what they need is some country cookin� and a slow day by the lake "where's the skies are so blue" (as the song would say), and it all will be forgiven. Lord, they're coming home to you!

Now, if you�ll pardon me, I�m off to eat dinner at the Dixie Caf� with my mother and aunt, because I suddenly feel like having chicken fried steak, okra and cornbread, with a big glass of iced tea (sweetened, of course).