AGW Entertainment reporter Lynn B. saw a new romantic comedy film. Here are her thoughts on....

SWEET HOME ALABAMA

Touchstone Pictures

A New Yorker goes back to her Southern Roots, sort of the flip side of the life of "born Southern" lead actress Reece Witherspoon who remembers sitting in the hot sun all day as a kid watching Civil War re-enactments where guys would get "shot", lie around on a battlefield pretending to be dead for twelve hours then get up and high five and go home. Humm, could this have been Reece's inspiration for her acting career?

In this film, rising New York fashion designer Melanie Carmichael (Reece Witherspoon) becomes engaged to Mayor (Candice Bergen)'s son Andrew (Patrick Dempsey) and all is rosy but there's one worm in the Big Apple. Melanie must return to her Southern small-town roots to talk Jake (Josh Lucas), the redneck boyfriend she married in high school, into divorcing her!

Melanie's folks Earl and Pearl (Fred Ward and Mary Kay Place) still live in a doublewide trailer and Pearl thinks her daughter should grab onto prince charming and leave Jake in the dust. But, as Melanie's roots start to wrap around her once again, she must face the demons of her youth that made her run away in the first place. A chore that will change her life forever.

I love this film. It offers down-home jokes without insulting small-town folks. All characters are rich, real and flawed in some way and it can make you cry as often as laugh. The film could easily have gone the fluff route and been a very superficial "Hillbillies versus City Folk" tale without substance, but there are real issues to deal with here involving home, lifestyle, family, lifelong love versus the man of the moment, etc.

The actors present the tale with depth and pathos. The true comedy comes from supporting characters like Candice Bergen's mayor, Mary Kay Place and Fred Ward's parents, Ethan Embry's gay high school pal, etc. while Reece and Josh Lucas, although providing laughs, peel off layers of their relationship until they reach a raw center that is both heartbreaking and heartening to watch. Patrick Dempsey is great too as a guy with class, style and political ambition who is balancing true love with a desire to "stick it" to his snobbish mom who hates the idea of her son marrying "beneath him".

"Alabama" isn't as fluffy or charming throughout as "Legally Blonde" but it has a depth that will surprise you. It also has a kickin' soundtrack including the title track by Jewel, and tunes by Avril Lavigne, Ryan Adams, Sheryl Crow, and more. Also, it's a fun date flick.

Official website: www.sweet-home-alabama.com

RATED: PG-13