But I remember my wife and I were in Tahiti for a second honeymoon, this was like 10 years ago, and I got to talking to a couple in the pool who were also on their honeymoon and they told me they had used some of the lines that were in "Sweet Home Alabama" in their vows. D Lord, I'm C coming home to G you. The ending was included on the DVD of the film, and itd be fair to say that at first, its something of a shock. 5:02. 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. Neil Young pays tribute to Lynyrd Skynyrd's Ronnie Van Zant: Alabama / Sweet Home Alabama - 11-12-77. Director Andy Tennant did test the ending too, ultimately conceding that no one though it was funny. 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. She's recalling the life she had with Jake and the baby they lost due to her miscarriage. She begins to cry, but about much more than the loss of her dog. Use them in commercial designs under lifetime, perpetual & worldwide rights. Lynyrd Skynyrd and Neil Young: Friends or Foes? Mountain View, California - August 31, 1991 - Old used ticket for the concert of, Sweet Home Alabama Stock Photos, Images & Pictures. Literally, Nina Jacobson, head of Buena Vista Pictures, walked up the aisle before the lights had even come up and said to me, "We're reshooting the ending.". On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. But in a parallel universe somewhere, the alternative version went out. I haven't seen her in years. 26 3. Padahal, Bobby Ray merupakan sosok yang selalu mendukung impian-impian Melanie sejak kecil. Nobody had told me beforehand this movie is going to be a big success. I had lunch with her not that long before I turned in the "Sweet Home Alabama" script. By clicking Sign up, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider The film although predictable is full of funny moments and a lot of heart. Tennant: When we showed it to a test audience the whole room was just like, "What the fuck!" 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. In the present day, Melanie is a successful New York fashion designer who has adopted the surname "Carmichael" to hide her poor Southern roots. of them Melanie's parents are "scared" by a punk with a pierced tongue, I was so uncomfortable and felt it wasn't working. So we kept in touch. 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. Lucas: She rung my bell a couple of times. Being from Illinois and I live in New York, I was fascinated by the history and I was always surprised by how generous, kind, and friendly the people in the South were. I had never done anything at that scale before. It stars Reese Witherspoon, who plays an Alabama-born fashion designer living in NYC. It's the "almost" part that makes the movie work. You can unsubscribe at any time. Song listed in our famous tablatures. Boo! He would see me and just walk the other way. You can see tucked into the top of her left boot the battery pack for her microphone and the wires going up her skirt. They then go and dance as the Lynyrd Skynyrd song "Sweet Home Alabama" plays. Then he auditioned to play the male lead, Jake, in "Sweet Home Alabama. Show 1 more answer. But even in Witherspoon's most optimistic moments, she probably didn't imagine that teaming up with filmmaker Andy Tennant, who just a year earlier helmed a movie that performed so poorly he was thrown in "director jail," and starring opposite an unknown leading man by the name of Josh Lucas would lead to enormous success. Tennant: I didn't realize how funny that line would be, but when Melanie [Lynskey] does her whole thing about Jaclyn Smith and the designer, she is just brilliant and can make anything work. 2 Credits. Now, not the way Patrick's character did it where it's private after-hours, but that began the idea. Apparently, the clincher was the moment when the parents were looking at their dead daughter didnt get any laughs. The stuff she does in every take is wonderful. In her recollection, her initial response was negative: "[Clydie King] said the song was 'Sweet Home Alabama.' 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. There, she became a socialite, but after nearly a decade away, she needs to come back home to secure a divorce from her husband. So at the premiere, I took my mom and had some of my friends and there was a party afterwards. It's just a thing. Mary H. Ellis. And then that Friday the movie opened and Sunday I started getting calls from my agent telling me how huge the movie opened. Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. That's exactly what happened, though. In Sweet Home Alabama, she's a poor Southern lass who reinvents herself as a Big Apple socialitethen finds it almost impossible to go home again. With a reported budget of US$30 million, it was a box office hit, despite the mixed reviews. Intimidated by the city and her success, he returned home to make something of himself first. All this stuff boiling. He has the divorce papers, which Melanie hadn't signed. Trivia: Erin Vanderbilt, the woman that Andrew is shown marrying at the end originally had a bigger part, but test audiences misunderstood her relationship with Andrew before breaking up with Melanie, so all of Erin's scenes were cut except for that small bit over the credits. During that time, he was offered "Sweet Home Alabama.". I originally had my doubts about seeing this one but I bought the DVD and I highly enjoyed the movie. Sweet Home Alabama was the first film allowed to shoot in New York City after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Jake: The only reason I ain't signing is cause you've turned into some hoity-toity Yankee bitch, and I'd like nothing better right now than to piss you off. Download Sweet Home Alabama stock photos. When Tennant and Parks handed in the rewrite, one of the major notes from the studio was that the proposal Andrew gives Melanie at the beginning of the movie wasn't special enough. What do they say? 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. The early stuff in the movie, Melanie coming to Jake's house with the divorce papers for him to sign, we rehearsed that and there's a friction in the relationship and a real sense of love and passion underneath the surface. If youd like to support our attempts to make a non-clickbaity movie website: Follow Film Stories on Twitterhere, and on Facebookhere. Weekend Song. It has come and gone ever since and I'm now way further beyond that where I don't give it much credence either way. Zero. Charlize Theron was originally sought out to play the lead role of Melanie Carmichael, but because there was an actors strike at the time, she had jumped to do the film Trapped. That Jake would have mid-life issues and that there are differences where Jake and Melanie landed. 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. Frankly, I don't think you could make "Sweet Home Alabama" today. In the original scene, she slaps him and walks away. (Witherspoon's rep told Insider she was unavailable to be interviewed for this story. Tennant: What happened was Reese's daughter, Ava, went to school with my son, so I would see Reese on occasion. Tennant: I don't know how anybody deals with fame, I really don't. Question: In the scene where Jake is driving Andrew to find Melanie, he tells the story about the cat. Jake announces, "Melanie Carmichael is dead" but then a few seconds later he says, "Long live Felony Melanie." The Marvel Cinematic Universe is in a hole, but just how deep is it? Melanie Carmichael: The truth is I gave my heart away a long time ago, my whole heart, and I never really got it back. So I went home and talked to my wife and she said, "I was proposed to at Tiffany's." I might have been the lowest-paid actor in the entire movie. But the main thing that happened when we were down there was we were having lunch and we heard these booms in the distance and it was like, "What the fuck is that?" And that turned out to be "Legally Blonde." 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) Lucas has built an impressive career that includes movies like "Hulk," "Glory Road," and "Ford v Ferrari." They were developing it for Charlize to star. My producing partner and my editor, who are both women, were in the edit room with me. Melanie reconciles with her friends and learns that after she split with Jake, he had followed her to New York to win her back. It received a mixed critical reception[2] but was a success at the box office.[1]. Lucas was convinced he wasn't connecting with Witherspoon and was going to get fired. I think I had seen the movie before then and thought it was great, but I didn't get the feeling that anyone else did. She's great and committed, I knew she was going to be big. But neither can escape the fandom people have for "Sweet Home Alabama.". The coonhound cemetery was on Moore Street in Crawfordville and the bar was located at Heavy's Barbecue near the town. The interviews have been condensed and edited for clarity. 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. When the movie . 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. Jake announces, "Melanie Carmichael is dead" but then a few seconds later he says, "Long live Felony Melanie." "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. It was only humane from Melanie's skewed, immature-at-the-time perspective, believing the cat would be killed instantly. There's this motto: Act like a movie star and people will treat you like a movie star. Vinyl Records, CDs, and More from pop. 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. She was just jokin around. And I was like, "What?" Cue tissues. They were like, "What did you do?" Everyone is in shock. From Reese Witherspoon to Josh Lucas. Dreamstime is the world`s largest stock photography community.