Like the prodigal son, Melanie is welcomed back to Pigeon Creek even though she rejected her crude-talking, beer-drinking family when she became rich and famous. But she discovers the consequences of lying to her New York crowd about being a Southern debutante and also learns to accept her humble background. Scenes in the country tavern include heavy drinking and some drunken behavior. The dialogue throughout is heavily peppered with obscenities, a few regular profanities and a couple dozen crudities. Under the influence of alcohol, Melanie shocks the whole town when she reveals one of the hometown faithful is homosexual. With no graphic sex scenes or nudity, and only one brief sock in the jaw, SWEET HOME ALABAMA would be a wholesome movie without its condoned excessive drinking and foul language.