From the first preview, I knew how this movie was going to end. A few months later, I saw the movie and I was proven right. Romantic comedies are notoriously predictable, and "Sweet Home Alabama" is no exception. But it's not what the story is that's important, it's how the story is told. And while "Sweet Home Alabama" is flawed in many ways, it tells the story charmingly enough to leave me satisfied and happy.

The movie is about Melanie Carmichael (Reese Witherspoon), a young up-and-coming fashion designer residing in New York. Her life couldn't be better: she loves her fast-paced New York life, her new line of clothes is received well and she's dating an almost impossibly perfect man. Then her boyfriend, Andrew (Patrick Dempsey), proposes. She accepts, but first she has to go back to her hometown in Alabama to straighten out one minor detail: she's still married to her childhood sweetheart (Josh Lucas). The first time he proposed to her, they were walking on the beach in a lightning storm. When she asked him why he wanted to marry her, he responded, "So I can kiss you whenever I want." They were 10 years old at the time.

And so, for the first time in seven years, Melanie packs up her fashionable New York clothes and her big-city pretensions and hauls herself back to the small Southern town to figure out the past that she's hidden for so long.

Melanie's adventures down South are actually pretty fun to watch. The characters and events are engaging enough that I was constantly amused. Even though you know most of what's going to happen next, you're still excited to see it happen. The movie is, overall, glossy and mildly funny. The ending is a little messy, but it's so high-spirited that it's hard to resist feeling good. "Sweet Home Alabama" has no substance and holds no profound truths, but neither claims to nor needs to.

However, this is not to say that this movie is perfect, or even very good. The theme of big-city attitude versus small-town values is a familiar one, and one that lends itself to many stereotypes and clichés. "Sweet Home Alabama" is not above painting unflattering and shallow pictures of small-town life. The locals, although friendly, come across as dirty, crude and uneducated. The New Yorkers, on the other hand, are just as stereotypically, though not as meanly, portrayed. They're chic, refined and coolly interesting.

The individual characters are fortunately more three-dimensional. Candice Bergen, who plays Andrew's mother and the mayor of New York City, is delightfully bitchy and offers a refreshing break from the often excessively sappy scenes. And Ethan Embry, as Bobby Ray, an old friend of Melanie's, is gentle but lovable and makes the most of his small role.

Unfortunately, the main characters don't seem to have much to work with. Although Dempsey does fine, his character is so unfalteringly sweet, loyal and romantic-so completely faultless-that he borders on annoying. Did I also mention that he's rich, powerful, smart and handsome? On the other hand, Lucas' Jake has a bit more depth. He's got a sweet side, a rough side and a sense of humor. We learn that he has made some mistakes in the past, but has since changed. Lucas does an excellent job of being manly and brooding, and we can see how Melanie could have loved him.

What is more difficult to see is why Andrew and Jake would love her so much. Melanie's not a bad person, but she has a pronounced nasty streak, and it shows. When she first shows up in Alabama, she is contemptuous and condescending. Then she gets drunk while playing pool at the bar with her old high school friends and harshly criticizes her ex-schoolmates for the lifestyle they've chosen, then reveals one friend's biggest secret to turn the attention away from her own cruelty. Although the townspeople go back to loving her after she makes a couple of weak apologies, I found the episode hard to forgive.

Which brings me to my next point: thank goodness for Reese Witherspoon. Ever since "Legally Blonde," I've admired her skill at making any character come to life. Witherspoon lends Melanie a sincerity and depth that makes her infinitely more appealing. A lesser actress would probably have made Melanie unpleasant and spiteful and seemingly unworthy of love-Jake's, Andrew's or ours. But Witherspoon has us believing that Melanie is a swell gal underneath it all. Her Melanie really is sorry for her wrongs and doesn't mean to hurt people. She's just confused. And so it was thanks to Witherspoon's great acting that I grudgingly forgave Melanie for the drunken episode and felt genuinely happy for her at the end, even though I still felt sorry for the rejected man.

"Sweet Home Alabama" is a total cliché. And yes, the movie is full of unrealistic stereotypes about Yankees and Southerners. The romances are a bit awkward. And happy as the ending is, you can't quite help pitying the jilted lover. But in spite of all that, it's enjoyable. If you're looking to happily while away a couple hours, "Sweet Home Alabama" will do just fine.