Sweet Home Alabama, 2002

THURSDAY MOVIE CONNECTION!

Josh Lucas--Reese Witherspoon



Director: Andy Tenant (Fool's Gold, Hitch, Ever After: A Cinderella Story, Fools Rush In)

Stars: Reese Witherspoon, Josh Lucas, Patrick Dempsey

When big New York designer Melanie (Witherspoon) gets engaged to the Mayor's son (Dempsey), she goes back home to Alabama to get something she should have gotten many years ago: a divorce from her husband Jake (Lucas). Married right out of high school, Melanie had fled Alabama and Jake soon after the wedding, and had never come back. Until now.

Now Melanie faces her old home, her husband, her family, and old friends, trying to get Jake to sign the divorce papers. Then somehow, the Mayor gets wind of the situation and shows up in Alabama, trying to avoid a scandal.

I don't like the part where Mel makes a fool of herself, and that's quite a bit since she's so sure of herself (except not), and that never works out well. But this one has a happy ending, and it also has Josh Lucas. :)

The Long, Hot Summer, 1958

Director: Martin Ritt

Stars: Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Orson Welles, Angela Lansbury

Another Paul Newman one! Enough said, right? You are about to hop in the car and go rent it.

Ben Quick (newman), a drifter, comes on a little town in Mississippi, looking for work. He finds a place to stay and work, on the plantation farm of the Varners, the richest family in town. Mr. Varner's son Jody and daughter-in-law live at home in his big mansion, along with his unmarried daughter, the local schoolteacher Clara Varner (Woodward).

The story is about Clara, and how she has dealt with her singleness and her father's opinion of it. And how Jody Varner, Clara's brother, deals with his father's resentment towards him. And of course, the story also includes Ben, seemingly stealing away the father's affection from Jody.

After watching it, I just want to sit on a rockin' chair on the front por-rch, and speak in a Southern dra-wl. Sippin' some cold sweet tea, or somethin'.

Perfect movie for a rainy day, though it is called The Long, Hot Summer.

I think it's sweet how Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward were married 50 years (until his death in 2008. In Hollywood, that is serious.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, 1958

Director: Richard Brooks

Stars: Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Burl Ives

Wow. Not exactly what I was expecting. But not bad at all.

So Brick (Newman) is a alcoholic who is rejecting his wife Maggie (Taylor) because of something that happened in their past. While visiting his childhood home, they get caught in the midst of much drama on learning that Big Daddy (Ives) is dying. This film is a struggle of relationships and realizations of mistakes and all that jazz. It's emotional and dramatic, but I don't mean it negatively. And I don't want to give away any more.

And after I watched it, Paul Newman made a guest appearance in my dreams!

Needless to say, I highly recommend it.