Critic's Corner: SWEET HOME ALABAMA

This film, which can be rentedfrom your local video store, israted on a scale of 1 to 4 caducei:

SWEET HOME ALABAMA

New York

Times

Sweet Home Alabama

Anna and the King

Ever After

(2002): Beforethis movie hit thetheaters, I rememberreadingan article about itin the . The criticwas only given apartial preview ofthe movie, andshe said that her final review of itwould depend on the ending thatshe had yet to see—I couldn'tagree more. is about a New York fashiondesigner, Melanie (Reese Witherspoon),who accepts the marriageproposal of her JFK Jr-esqueboyfriend (Patrick Dempsey).Before proceeding, Melanie mustreturn to her small-town roots tosecretly secure a divorce from herhigh school sweetheart, Jake (JoshLucas). This is easier said thandone; Jake is reluctant to granther a divorce and Melanie's feelingfor him are rekindled. Normallyin a movie like this, theending is obvious; in this case,however, I felt as though even thedirector (Andy Tennant) wasn'tsure which way he wanted thefilm to go until he shot the finalframe (this is possibly why theabove-mentioned critic was notshown the ending). Tennant hasdone some good work in the past,including and, but I don't think thismovie measures up.

Rating: 1.5

Lisa A. Tomaszewski, managing editor of

Physician's Money Digest, is currently

working on her PhD in literature at Drew

University in New Jersey. She is an avid

fan of film and has taught a summer film

course at Fairleigh Dickinson University.

She welcomes questions, comments, or

suggestions for future film reviews at

732-656-1140 ext. 195 or ltomaszewski@pmdnet.com.