Virtually every New Yorker in the movie is portrayed as shallow, materialistic, and elitist, while the Alabama natives are "folksy," "homespun," and, most importantly "real." And while this calculus may not be entirely fair, it's in a way refreshing that Hollywood for once abandons its usual policy of portraying Southern and/or rural characters as inarticulate hicks.

There are of course times when the film sacrifices authenticity in order to gloss over the unsavory sides of the Southern experience - most notably when a character declares his homosexuality and not a single Alabama denizen as much as bats an eye - not even at the end when he begins a flirtation with Melanie's black gay friend from New York. Melanie's father (Fred Ward) is a collector of Civil War memorabilia and regularly participates in re-enactments - something the film treats more as a charming eccentricity than anything political or racial. Much action takes place in an old plantation house, though the word "slavery" is predictably not spoken in the film.

And it's not just the romanticism of the South that makes Sweet Home Alabama a deeply conservative movie - the film's primary villain is Andrew's mother, the mayor of New York (played by Candice Bergen) who parodies just about every negative stereotype there is about Hillary Clinton - she's an urban liberal who was elected by "the poor," yet can't stand to be in their company - it may be the most unflattering portrait of a female politician in a movie since Angela Landsbury in The Manchurian Candidate 40 years ago. In one scene, Witherspoon even teases Dempsey about being a Democrat - and among the Alabama characters the most stereotypical Southern character is a fat, mulleted coot whose name just happens to be "Clinton."

Apart from this highly unusual political subtext, Sweet Home Alabama works on most levels as a sweet and charming romantic comedy; Witherspoon is incredibly beautiful and charming at all turns, is believable both as a New Yorker and a Southerner, and has the right amount of chemistry with both of her male co-stars. It's enough to forgive the predictability of the ending and the horrible cheesiness of a wedding scene that's eerily reminiscent of Altman's Dr. T. and the Women. Nonetheless, the film's sweetness and heart make it as good a movie for a date as anything in recent memory. The only thing missing to make Sweet Home Alabama into a true 2000 election allegory would be a vote-counting scandal at the end- but oh well, at least Election had that.