Sweet Home Alabama is a 2002 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Andy Tennant and written by C. Jay Cox. It stars Reese Witherspoon as Melanie Carmichael, a New York fashion designer who returns to her Southern hometown to finalize a divorce from her estranged husband, played by Josh Lucas, before marrying her fiancé, portrayed by Patrick Dempsey. The supporting cast includes Fred Ward, Mary Kay Place, Jean Smart, Candice Bergen, Ethan Embry, and Melanie Lynskey. The film takes its title from the 1974 Lynyrd Skynyrd song of the same name.