Hello, returning Happys and new listeners. This is Steve Bennet-Martin.
And this is Stephen Martin-Bennet, and welcome to a lifetime of happiness.
The podcast where we take you on our journey through some of the movies, shows, and other bits of pop culture that are helping keep us happy, will hopefully bring a smile to your face along the way. And
we're spending the month of February falling in love all over again as we discuss some of our favorite romantic comedies. And we're continuing this week with Sweet Home, Alabama.
Yes. But before we head on down south or for us up north. Yeah. What's been making you happy? My.
So, um, friend of the podcast and, um, my best friend, Ronnie Diamond, has been suggesting forever for us to watch the Gilded Age.
Yes. And I said politely, no thank
you. And I knew that I would at some point, and it is by Julian Fellows who did, um, all of the Downton Abbey seasons. Mm-hmm. and, um, so I started watching the Gilded Age. This. and it's quite good. Well,
I'm I'm glad you're enjoying it. I, like I said, if it goes on to season four or five and you're rewatching them all to prepare for season six or seven and I decide to tune in, I'll pull it down to Abbey cuz that worked for me
there. It sure did. what about you my darling? What's been making you happy? Uh,
fire emblem. Engage on the Nintendo Switch. It's the newest in the fire Emblem games. I've been a fan of the series since they started coming out to the US in the Game Boy Advance era,
and that's a long time ago. Use
old, I know Mr. Atari la who's talking
You didn't need to go that far.
Okay. But yes, I've been offended the series for a long time and three houses is probably my favorite switch game to date. I put in, well over, I think 200 hours in 10
game. I would at least, I would
say, uh, I played through like all three houses, storylines, and did all the things that I could do in that game. And so I went in with this with high expectations and I was so prepared to hate it, but I do enjoy it. I realized having played it that long, Normal mode is now easy for me. So I probably should have started on hard mode, but I'm redoing it now that I've beaten it and I'm enjoying it.
I do miss this, I think is the first or second one in, uh, in recent ones where the endings, like, you don't get to have paired endings for your battle allies. Like you can find like a pair for yourself, like your favorite battle ally like. You get married to or if they're related to you, like your BFFs forever. Mm-hmm. Um, and in the past it was like if your tank and your healer like fell in love on the battlefield, that they would run off together and live happily ever after.
And it didn't have that, at least in my play through, and that was disappointing. But other than that, I enjoyed the game. It's not three houses, so I don't think of it as like a sequel if you loved that as like your entry into the series, but it definitely goes back to its roots and I am enjoying it. Wonderful. And it's on the Nintendo Switch? Yes. Yes. And why do we love Sweet Home, Alabama?
Uh, well the movie is Sweet, endearing and Pure Magic. Uh, Reese Brother Spoon is at the top of her romcom comedic game and has a phenomenal cast. Like even the supporting cast members, like everyone is really, really strong. Yes, it is immensely re watchable and quotable cuz you've got a baby. In a bar. Yeah. I mean, it's so good. Yes.
It definitely was one of the ones that came to mind when I thought of my favorite romcoms. Yes. For those not a No. Sweet Home, Alabama is a 2002 romantic comedy directed by Andy Tenant and written by CJ Cox. Sorry. No, it's okay. I love that For you, we're gonna keep that. It was released on September 27th, 2002 with a budget of 30 million and a box office of 180.6 million. So it did quite well for itself.
Yes, it did. It stars Reese Witherspoon as Melanie, Josh Lucas as Jake and Patrick Dempsey as Andrew.
Yes, and I am DB summarizes the movie that it shares a young woman who has reinvented herself as a New York City socialist and must return home to Alabama to obtain a divorce from her husband after seven years of separation. Eh,
it's so lackluster. I mean it, instead of saying reinvented herself, it should be like, Who has hidden her past or something like that. Mm-hmm. because reinvented like reinventing yourself. You can do, but like she changes her name. Yes. I mean that it's a big damn deal. She like not just reinvented herself, she like, Created a fake past, but we'll get into all that.
Yes, the starts off in the beginning in Alabama during a thunderstorm where two children are chasing after each other, who we learned later, a 10 year old, Melanie and Jake Young. Jake wants to marry her so he can kiss her anytime he wants lightning strikes, but Jake tells her that lightning never strikes the same place twice, and as they kiss, they get struck by lightning. Jake was wrong. Yes, and you pointed out something I didn't know.
Melanie is played by Young Dakota Fanning back in the 2002, like early two thousands area. Dakota Fanning was everywhere. Yes.
Now in present day, Melanie Carmichael is now a successful fashion designer in New York City with a hairstyle that screams 2002. It's
really, really 2002 when we were watching it and she came on the screen as an adult, I. Ooh. Her haircut really sets what period of time this
was in. Yes, she becomes engaged to Andrew, the son of the Mayor of New York City. After a successful fashion show. Melanie asks Andrew to let them keep it private for a few days, but the mayor blurts it out from the press and is not quite happy about it either. No, Melanie announces that she has to go back home to Alabama to tell her parents in person. Because she hasn't seen them in seven years. Her private reason is to demand a divorce from Jake.
She has not told Andrew that she's still married. Uhoh. How would you feel if I let you pick out your own engagement ring like he does for her? If he just says, here's the whole store, pick out whatever one you.
I mean, wow. Um, I love that scene of them sneaking in the back way to Tiffany's and the lights come on and it's really magical. Um, if there were a plethora of men's engagement rings the way there are women's. That could be kind of fun. I,
yes, I agree. That could be fun. I also love that you picked your yours out for me with intent and thought. Yeah, I did And so I think that that'd be something that I probably would've picked to myself that I would've been like, Ooh, shiny and sparkly, inexpensive
Now, um, When Melanie gets flustered and Andrew has to ask again if she'll marry him, he says, I'm not in the habit of asking questions, to which I don't already know the answer. That right there tells us a lot of things about Andrew in a very short amount of time. It tells us he does not take chances that he plans everything and he likes to have control over everything.
are any of those bad negative things that are turning him into the villain for you already? He's
not the villain and he is never the villain in this movie. Um, he is an unfortunate casualty. Mm-hmm. in this movie. Um, I do not think that they are right for each other. Um, for a lot of the reason and like. I honestly think that she picks somebody like Andrew because he is the exact opposite of Jake, because Andrew is steady because everything is planned and like she's able to breathe the sigh of relief, which is the opposite of what Jake does, but I don't think.
Yeah. I don't think that's what would make her happy. It might have been what she needed or what she told herself she needed, but I don't think it's what would make her happy.
Oh, agreed. We'll find out what makes her happy shortly. Yes. Yes. Now, how would you react if you found out after you proposed to me that I was still married to my childhood sweetheart? Who I hadn't talked to in eight years
I would be like, um, how would this not come up? Um, and how did you keep this a secret? You're awful at keeping secrets. It would've
taken a lot of work. Let me tell you But yes, I, I can't imagine if that had happened. If I proposed to you, which you proposed to me, yeah. But I can't imagine if it, the tables were turned, if I found out that you were like engaged. But then again, I've always joked that you had this other secret family that you just treat really poorly cuz you neglect them so much by spending so much time with me. But
you also believe that the other family. like that. I'm straight in the other scenario that I have a wife and
children. Yeah, I know. It's a, it's very make believe and funny. Pretend at this point, but, um, yes, I would be very surprised.
Yes. Now, um, so Melanie's current city, New York City, and then Pigeon Creek, um, is your own hometown vastly different to where you live right now? No,
I would say it's, it's pretty similar. It, um, I like this one better. It's like a little bit bigger and has a lot like more going for it because it's like by the water and it has all the pretty views and sunsets and weather and no winters and all of that kind of stuff. Yeah. But, uh, no, in terms of kind of like what it offers and amenities and stuff like that, it's all very pretty similar. Yep.
Same. Same. Are you sure? Oh, you're right. No, no, it is entirely different. Is,
is Pigeon Creek like where you grew up?
Um, the people of Pigeon Creek are made out to be a little slow sometimes. Um, where I grew up in the hills of West Virginia, um, is definitely rural, like Pigeon Creek, where people live a slower life and you know, every. and it was a fantastic place to grow up because of that security and that sense of community. Um, but I think Spencer is better than Pigeon Creek. Well, there, I will say that for sure. And um, but I see similarities with some of the people.
Like, you know, she goes away and she comes back and all the people she knew are now in jobs. Replacing people that she knew in the past, like that's very much a small town and there's a lot of charm and wonderful things about coming from a small town.
I wouldn't know, but that's okay.
Well, Melanie returns to Pigeon Creek, Alabama, and our first stop is Jake's house. Jake has refused three times to sign the papers and he just keeps sending them back in the mail. And again, Jake refuses to divorce her. So he calls the sheriff to arrest her for trespassing and she, we need to find out. She was known as felony, Melanie and she may have killed a cat by tying dynamite to its tail. Um, Jake gets her arrested for a pass charge. And she has to call her parents to bail her out.
And there's conflict between she and her parents because she doesn't visit. But it also seems like there's something deeper there as well. And also her parents have never come, um, up to visit her in New York cuz it didn't suit. Yes.
And I'm just really impressed at how well written the movie is. I'm surprised that I haven't heard the writer's name before. Right, because you mean you love a lot of the quotes too.
I do. Where he goes, you're shitting me. Right. You know, I've never understood that phrase, but no, I'm not shitting you. And just her line delivery is so good. And then they're arguing and she's like, you dumb stubborn redneck kick you ho Totty Yankee bitch and Ho Totty is absolutely a phrase that I heard growing
up And what was your relationship like with your parents when you lived apart?
Uh, we were extraordinarily close. We emailed every day, um, and. Like called on the weekends and things. So it was, and I came, like whenever I was in Cincinnati and they were down here, then I would come down about six times a year cuz it's expensive. When they lived in Spencer, I would drive back, um, once a month. Interesting. What about you?
Uh, it was not as severe and estranged as this movie, but it definitely was like, okay. uh, you'll come back home for Christmas and we'll call you on all the other major holidays. Other than that, and like we helped you get up to Albany like for college, but like the. Once I was done with the whole back and forth for college bit and I just chose to live up there, like they didn't visit until I, I like moved back down. How far
is
Albany from like a three hour drive? Oh, and I would, I would go, I was required basically to go home for Christmas, but the rest of the year, three hour drive was like, my parents are like, that's just too much visit you. Where would we stay? And I was like, I have a guest room. And they're like, no Where? Stay So it was just very
different. Yeah. And so we also find out during this that Jake got drunk before the wedding and puked on her wedding dress, and she had to go to the reception alone while he passed out at the travel lodge. Now, you and I have talked in the past about how husbands and wives who shove cake in each other's faces mm-hmm. during the reception have. Didn't you say it was like a 80% chance of getting a divorce?
I can't remember numbers. That's why I married a numbers
man. it's a really high chance, so if you shove cake in each other's face, they have a much higher chance of divorce. Then the couples who don't.
Yes. So I'm also sure that not even getting there because you passed out drunk, is not also one of those things that is likely to lead to divorce or issues down the road. I mean, I'm an alcoholic and I was in my active addiction backer then, and I still was able to make it through the wedding mostly.
You did. You made it through an entirely,
yes. I just did not feel very well the next morning at all.
Well, we also had to get up at 3:00 AM for our flight. I know. And I
knew. Yeah, it was, it was rough. Yes. Uh, and the mayor is digging into Melanie's past. Melanie claims to come from the wealthy cotton people in Greenville, Alabama. Mayor's assistant finds no record of an Earl or Melanie Carmichael. They have to find her skeletons before the press does. The mayor is only concerned about Andrew's future political chances because she wants him to be the next president of the United
States. Yes. Candace Bergen is playing the mayor, and she is so perfect in this role. I mean, she's so well put together. She's very quick-witted, sharp tongue. It just really, really, Yes,
and Melanie runs into her old B Fff, Bobby Ray, on her way to the bank, at the bank. She runs into an old classmate who's married to Wade, the sheriff, who asked if she wants to make a withdrawal from her. and Jake's joint checking
account and she takes all the money and cleans and redecorate Jake's house and makes herself at home. He gets home and he is pissed and he looks in the fridge and he is like, what is this chick food? She goes, light beer, less calories. And yes, when they're talking about the divorce, he. Nobody meets their soulmate when they're 10. And he says this in a way that lets you know that he totally thinks he met his soulmate when he was 10.
Yes. And she wants to know where all the money came from, why he quit the tire factory. And it's clear that a lot of things have changed in his life that she doesn't know about. She also doesn't seem to like press too hard either. Um, and he does know about Andrew. We're recording back.
Just cuz I talk slow doesn't mean I'm stupid. And there's definitely a stereotype of people with southern accents being less int. You and I watched this show on Netflix called a hundred Humans. That was all about, um, scientists using a hundred random people to, um, do scientific studies. And there was an episode where they had the same person give the exact same lecture. To three different groups. And in one group she spoke in a southern accent. One group, she spoke in a British accent.
And one group, she spoke in a no accent or Midwestern accent. And the groups then judged, um, what they thought of the lecture and of the lecturer. And um, they said that the one that gave the southern. With the southern accent was less interesting, less accurate. And the lecturer was probably not as intelligent when it was the same person with the same info as all the other ones.
Yes. And while I disagree about that and that's super bad, I do agree that people with UK accents do sound smarter than us unless it's like from one of the cockney places.
you mean like
Bella? Yes. Not like Bella from my dad wrote a. Meanwhile, Melanie follows Jake to a bar that is owned by his mother, Stella, the genius Gene smart, rejecting the idea that anyone in town has changed or grown. One night, Melanie gets drunk and mean while catching up with her and Jake's old friends. She blurts out that Bobby Ray is gay, something he's never told anyone in town. There. She lets out the, the reason that she married Jake was because she was pregnant and she later had a miscarriage.
Jake becomes angry with her and takes her home and she pukes in his truck, which is gross. Yep. When she wakes up in the next morning, the divorce papers are lying on the bed signed by Jake.
Oh. She goes on a tirade against all the people in Pigeon Fork and the city itself. You know, people need a passport to come down here and you know. At the time you think it's kind of funny and then I'm like, eh, it's not really great to make fun of other people's way of life. You know? Like what works for you may not work for someone else and vice versa. Like, I don't think any different of people that stayed in my hometown, um, versus anybody that moved away.
Because whatever works for your life, like whatever makes you happy, go. Yeah.
I mean, did you ever go through a phase like that where you thought you were better than some person or group? Absolutely,
I will. I will fully own up to that. And there are still days today where I think that there are certain groups of people then I'm better than, and they wear red hats.
Well, I'm working a spiritual program I love and so, uh, but yes, I definitely back in the day as well can identify with the fact and it was never targeted at certain groups of people. Really? I just thought it was better than like 95% of humans
Well, you probably like,
it was never like, I'm better than those people or that group of people, or the people who do this or that. It was just like in general, I was like, no, it was, it's not your fault, I mean, everyone's not as great as me. Facts I've learned since then. I'm a little, I'm a little more humble now. Most
of the time, So we also, this is the scene where we get that line of you have a baby in a bar.
Well, I have three more at home. This one's still on the tits, so I can card him anywhere. Exactly.
Melanie puts all the money back in Jake's account and she finds out that he's selling the house and moving to Tuscaloosa. It feels a spark of something between them and he asks if she'd like to see something, but she declines and heads off to apologize to Bobby Ray. Bobby Ray's at the Carmel Plantation where we realize that's where she got her new last name from. and we found out that her real name is Smoother. And Bobby Ray says that Jake isn't the only one she ran out on.
Yes, me. Melanie begins to realize how selfish she has been with her actions and how she turned her back on everything from back home. Uh, when apologizing to Bobby Ray about outing him, she says,
if I was pointing at you, then nobody could see through. and we see that so often when people lash out that it's usually because they're projecting or they're trying to hide something about themselves.
Yeah, I mean, I did that when I was in grade school, like specifically from like probably fifth grade through like eighth grade when I was really trying to throw the scent off the gay trail. Like I would make fun of anyone that I could that was like easy to make fun of. Yes. But like I also was, uh, like I think everyone from fourth day grade's, a little bit of an asshole.
Yeah. That's, that's about the age where you, it's the last year where kids in elementary school are gonna be potentially good after that you're just pretty much assholes.
Yeah. And so, yeah, it was a rough time. But other, like I, and it's unfortunate to see it in a woman of her age,
Uh, the mayor's assistant shows up pretending to be Barry Lowenstein from the New York Post. Bobby Ray helps Melanie by giving a tour of the plantation and pretending to be her cousin. Now, Bobby Ray's been very forgiving of Melanie when he could have let her, uh, left her out to dry. Uh, it says a lot about the connection in the past, and some of those bonds are forever, no matter the time or.
Do you have anyone in your life that you could go for a while with not speaking to them and still know you could reach out and depend on them?
Most of them, but I mean, of course Laura comes to mind cuz we don't talk, like every time we talk we're like, oh, we need to do this more often. And then it's like another month or two months or three months or holiday or whatever. But yeah. Um, you know, it's, she's still my best friend.
Yeah, that's definitely, I think one of those things about growing up in a small town that I. A list of people that I know that I could call and depend on them for something. Well, you're just more likable. That's true too. Yes. I mean, it just happens now at the
festival.
She seeks out Le Lynn and apologizes for what she said at the bar. Melanie begins to remember the charm of her hometown. Melanie learns that Jake had once gone to New York to try to find her because he still loved her, but he didn't seek her out once he got there because he realized that he needed to conquer the world first, and he's been trying to ever since. That's why he's been sending back the papers.
Jake goes out of his way to include Bobby Ray with their friend group trying to ease the outing from last night, and he handles it quite well and good for him and them.
Yep. Now Melanie takes a liking to some deep south glass glasses and she wonders who makes it, and people ask Jacob, he might know who made it, and people keep almost letting it slip that he owns it. Now, Melanie's a smart. but this is not the first time that this slip up has almost happened, happened with her parents and other people. Either she's too self-involved to have been listening before now, or she's kind of dense. Should she have been asking follow up questions at this point?
Like what do you mean?
I mean, I think that she's just been too self-involved and it's unfortunate, and our protagonist and our leading lady we're supposed to be rooting for, but the world, like she knows that she's the protagonist. She knows that this is her story. Oh, that she's leading the show, that this is all about her. Yep. And like that, that, that could be to a fault, I think in this case where she doesn't even think, because it would just require her to think outside of herself.
Now Sweet Home, Alabama plays and they all dance. But Melanie won't dance with Jake and we see her mom giving her an unkind look from afar. That night, Melanie goes to the cemetery to tell her old Koon dog bear. Goodbye. Jake shows up and explains how he told the dog that her disappearance was his fault, and they end up talking about why the marriage didn't work out, the baby they had lost and why she left. And she goes, I'm happy in New York, but I come down here and this fits too.
You know, you can have roots and
wings, and Jake gives a blessing for Melanie to have a good life with Andrew. And they have a quick goodbye kiss, which leads to a huge kiss. And then Jake pushes her away, however, and tells her to go home.
Yes. And then at this point, are you rooting for her and Jake to reunite and work it?
Uh, yes. I, I do think, like, we don't know exactly what's been going on with Jake, but you can see the affection and love, uh, that they have for each other. Like it may have ended poorly, but you can see that 10 year old relationship still there. Yes. Mm-hmm. Now, do you think. Andrew has done anything villainous or worth having her exploring this other romance.
No, but I didn't Last time for 13, going on 30 until you ruined it for me. Pointing out all of that up with that bitch's character defaults So I added this question and just in case you wanted to get shit on any of these like poor people that get hurt in these movies.
Nope. This time Andrew does not deserve what happened to him. He is an unfortunate casualty. I think that if she had been, divorced from Jake and they got married, I think at some point that she and Andrew would've gotten a divorce because in the end they're not right for each other. Mm-hmm. but he didn't do anything that was worthy of this happening, and he's treated her very.
Yes. I mean if Jake had gotten hit by a truck and died instead, I think they could have left led a very happy life because they both are both so self-involved in themselves though, cuz you can also tell that there are points where he's like, let's do this cuz this will piss off my mother. We're like, the wedding isn't about like marrying this girl as much as it is that this girl will piss off his mother type of. So I think that like in another world, but not this one.
In this one we're rooting for them. Yeah.
I think that they would've gotten a divorce before the 10 years. Mm-hmm. now Melanie's mom, Pearl is lecturing her about Jake telling her that she's got this second chance in life now and don't mess it up. And Pearl wants Melanie to go back to New York and Mary Andrew, she doesn't want Melanie to end up like her. You need to stay as far away from here as you can. That boy is quicksand. What's wrong with being you? Melanie Ask and Pearl says, I just think you deserve better. That's all.
What dreams do you think Pearl gave up to get married to Earl?
From what I know of pop culture recently, I think that Pearl wanted to be a dancer. She wanted you to do anything to be a famous ballet dancer. no matter what, you
never. Now, do you think in all this that Pearl is saying she regrets marrying Earl or just if she had had the opportunity that Melanie gave herself by getting out, that maybe Pearl would've gotten out of town instead of getting married and staying? I don't know. I also think that
while. I guess we can relate it to Remy that we always want him to be, have the best life possible and maybe better than the life that we had or our pet's head growing up or whatever. Yeah. But like you get what I mean? Like for like parents wanting kids to like be better than themselves. So I'm sure that that plays a part into it, but we also don't know how far that she came, maybe like from her previous generation.
And so maybe she did come a long way and so she just wants her daughter to come a long way just like she did.
I, I think she absolutely loves Earl and she loves the life that they've had, but I think that she also knows that at her time period, that getting out on her own wasn't a thing that women could do at that time. and maybe there's a little bit of envy, but I don't think she regrets having a family or marrying Earl. She just thinks of what might have been.
Yeah. Now, the next day, Andrew arrives in town because things need to start getting wacky. We're near the third
act. I mean, especially because Melanie was getting ready to leave town. Yes, Jake meets him outside the Carmac Plantation and at first thinks that he's there for Bobby Ray because of how well he is groomed and how attractive he is, and he discovers that he's Melanie's fiance. Jake identifies himself as Melanie's cousin and brings Andrew to Melanie, who's at the Civil War reenactment, where she had gone to say goodbye to her father on her way out of. on the way there.
Jake tells the story of Melanie Smoother, a local hero who blew up the bank and may be a cat by accident, and Andrew finds out that Melanie is still married to Jake and runs off angrily.
Is Andrew right to be angry?
Absolutely, 100%. She could have said, Hey, I got married in the past. I've been trying to get a divorce. Like she could have told him all this in New York. Like this is on her.
Yes. Now he comes back within like five minutes. So like, would you come back though? Would you like calm down and like be like, No, it's okay. I'll still marry you.
Well, he had a long time to think about it because he had to, like, Jake drove him out there. So Andrew's car is still at, um, the Carmack plantation, so he has to drive from the battlefield to the plantation. And I can tell you from growing up in rural America, nothing is close by. and this is, so you
would get over it in a couple hours that you
think, like less than a day. I think. I think that you, you might have gotten like that time alone, forced to walk and exercise. Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make people happy. Happy people just don't kill their husbands
or apparently leave their fiances for lying about being engaged to their childhood sweetheart, right? Who they're still in love with.
So I. His reasons are his own, but I think that he probably had enough time to cool down and like realizes why she did what she did. He may not forgive her for it, but you know,
I'm glad. I'm glad that you're the forgiving one and I'm the one who fucks up and not the other way around.
Well, he does say he doesn't care about her past and he just wants to be part of her. Which is a pretty amazing thing and scores him a lot of points and they decided to have the wedding in Alabama and the mayor reluctantly agrees to come down for it from New York.
Did you ever have fears of a monster of a mother-in-law?
Uh, no, because I had met your parents for a while beforehand, so yeah,
but like younger than that, like,
oh. You know, I don't know. I've always been the type I can win over adults. It's just always been a thing. Um, so no, I never worry that I wouldn't be able to win somebody over with my. Charisma, uniqueness, nerve and
talent. Well, there you go. Yeah, no, I definitely was afraid, but I think it was more just when I was like younger, even before I had serious relationships because like meeting parents was like a commitment thing. And you throw in the fact that like, I grew up in the age of these movies out where the mother-in-law is always a monster. Like they literally had a movie Monster. Monster in-law.
Yeah. Like, so I was all preparing, I'm like, The joy of getting married is that you get like a horrible in-law. And so I'm happy to report that's not the case. And I looked out and I love you Mama Martin
I love whenever her BFF asks Melanie how she's feeling and Melanie's like marriage is a big decision and her friend quickly says, actually, It's supposed to be the easiest one you ever make.
It was the easiest one for me,
Me too. Now Melanie, her bff Tabitha and her mentor Frederick, stopped down at Deep South Glass on the way to Pigeon Fork.
She sees Jake's plane and finally gets it. Finally. Finally, when they see each other with him and knowing why she's in town again, he treats her civilly, but keeps her at arms length to protect
himself. Do you think if she had known earlier about Deep South Glass, it would've changed her thoughts on him? Does knowing now change her thoughts on him? Should knowing change her thoughts on him? Yes. What are your thoughts? Yes. Yes. No. Yes, yes. No. Um, I think,
hold on.
I, I, I honestly think that she had already come around on him before, like at the cemetery because she was trying
to call him. She was blowing up his phone up to this, so she wanted to talk it out. She wanted to reconcile. Yeah. Whether that be, be, get back together or call, like whatever was going through her mind. She wanted to seek him out and he was the one keeping her at arms length through this. And so I think that it shouldn't affect things because she already was there, but maybe it does affect things knowing, I think
that if she had found out earlier before she had had her personal growth, it might have tainted things the wrong way. Mm-hmm. I think finding out when she did was the right time because it's kind of reconciling. Who he is with who she always thought he possibly could be. Well, there you go. Then
it all worked out. Yes. Stella goes to see Jake and tells him that she's shocked that he's giving up Melanie while getting dressed wonders if she's doing the right thing. And Steven yells, no girl ride A man comes into the diner looking for Melanie Carmichael, but the people in attempt tend not to know her. Thinking this man to be a. Turns out he's Melanie's lawyer. Oops. Haha. And then he gets turned around later by the cops.
Yeah. And like he can't get into the place and it's just wacky hijinks right near the end. Yep. But it is nice to see that as much as she had the town at odds after her drunk night at the bar, that her actions since then did win them back over and they were willing to protect their own in this case.
Yes. Now on her wedding day, as she's walking down the aisle, her lawyer shows up and explains that Jake has signed the. But she has not. She's still married. Andrew is pissed saying, I thought you took care of this. The mayor says, just fix it. And so Melanie asked for a pin, and Stella, her mother-in-law is the only one that has one. And Stella walks up to her and says, these things don't just happen, you know? And Melanie goes to sign the papers, then hesitate.
Too long and then she doesn't sign it. She turns to Andrew and says, truth is I gave my heart away a long time ago, my whole heart, and I never really got it back. Now, Andrew is so classy about it and walks away with dignity. The mayor, not so much. No. And I will not let the future president of the United States be dumped at the altar by some psycho daisy may.
Pearl stands up for Melanie, to which the mayor says, go back
to your double wide and fry something. And
Melanie punches her in the cunt. No, in the face. In the face. Now, sorry. I wanted to earn that explicit rating. We always check off, but never use
Who would you have chosen in this situation?
Uh, I don't know. I think. Andrew,
I would've chosen Jake.
Okay. We can choose to be different.
Yes. Now, do you believe that Jake and Melanie are meant to. I do think
that they're meant to be, but I would've wanted to be the Prince of New York. Glad
to see you have your priorities. Right.
Hey, I've already married for love at this point. If I have to marry again, I'm gonna do it for
money. And it's not like he didn't love her. Like choosing Andrew would not have been the wrong thing. Yeah. Now, when Andrew says, So that's what this feels like. What do you think he meant? Is, was it, that's what this feels like about getting his heart broken. That's what this feels like about not getting what he wants or things not going his way. All of
it. I think that nothing like this has ever happened to him and that he is lived a very privileged life, which is one that I would like to leave with him. Please call me Andrew. Just kidding. But, um, no, I, I think that, yeah.
now was the mayor right to be pissed?
Not to the point that she got aggressive and mean towards people, but she could be like frustrated about like the situation. I think that like any situation where like the wedding doesn't happen and people like moved heaven and hell and Earth to pay for all the stuff being shipped down from New York City for this wedding, like yeah, that there's that expectation that they're gonna both say yes. But her reaction was inappropriate, but I feel like the feelings that she had were valid,
agreed, 100%. Now, Melanie runs away from her wedding to go find Jake, who was on the same beach where years ago, 10 year old, Jake had told her that he wanted to marry her. So I can kiss you anytime I want. And Melanie tells him that she didn't marry Andrew because she wanted to be with him so that she could kiss him whenever she wanted. You're the first boy I ever kissed. I want you to be the last,
as Jake and Melanie kiss Wade, the town sheriff interrupts them by taking them back to Jake's mother's bar where all of their friends and family
are waiting. The receptions in full swing. Bobby Ray and Mentor Frederick make connection fuzz. The supposedly dead dynamite cat is licking the icing on the. And in the credits we see that Andrew married a Vanderbilt. Melanie and Jake have a baby, and they split their time between Alabama and New York City and open up a deep south glass door in New York,
and they all have happily ever after and they
love it. Now there is, um, an interesting thing that they had they film. The ending that we see here is different than the ending. That was originally filmed. So in the original, she was headed to the beach to see him during the storm. And as she's running towards the beach, lightning flashes. And then at the reception, Jake walks in carrying Melanie, and he goes, Melanie Carmichael is dead. And the screen flashes to Pearl and Earl.
And Stella who are devastated and he goes, long lived felony Melanie. And then she pops up and everyone in the test audience was so pissed. Yeah, that's not cool. No. And like, so the head of the movie studio. um, as the credits were rolling before the lights had even come up, walks back through the thing, stops at the director and says, we're reshooting that ending tomorrow. Yeah. And I'm glad, yeah. He goes, I'm not sure why I thought it was funny. I was the one that came up with that.
So yeah, looking back it was not cool and the audiences all felt they had been on this fun ride and then their emotions were devastated for a second. So yeah. And I think if that had been the ending, it wouldn't have done as well. Mm-hmm. it's kind of. Um, that's movie Stephen King's The Mist. Yeah. Where, um, spoiler alert, if you haven't seen the mist, stop right now. Um, and come back in 10 seconds.
Yeah. So, um, everyone commits suicide and just as the father's about to do it, um, they're saved by the military. And the movie up to that point had been so amazing. And I think if they had just been on the verge of doing it and then the military came, like you still would've had that tension. But now you're left with devastation and that ruined the movie for me. Like I refuse to watch it again. I know some people really like it, but nope, the ending of that one was a deal breaker.
Anyway, final thoughts on this movie. This
movie's not a deal breaker. I love the ending the way it is now,
and it has held up extraordinarily well. It's super, super well done. Josh Lucas. Um, does not get enough appreciation for his performance in this movie as Jake, the supporting cast between, um, Earl, who I love from the Tremors movies, um, Jean Smart and, um, Candace Bergen, like, and even, um, Lu Lynn and the bank teller, like it's a really, really good supporting cast. Bobby Ray. Really good cast. They knocked it out of the park with this movie.
Yes. I say we should cover it in a podcast episode. Oh wait, we just did. Oh my gosh. You know who else I love As much as I love this movie, is it our listeners? It is our listeners. We'd love to hear what you thought of this movie. You can do that by emailing us at Happy Life Pod gmail
dot. or you can get in touch with us on all the socials, whether that is Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok at Happy Life Pod. And
until next time, everybody
stay happy. Stay.