Hey, it's White Lake on the big screen!

North Carolina has been the filming location for its fair share of Hollywood movies over the years. Just off the top of my head I can think of the following:
Firestarter
Last of the Mohicans
Dirty Dancing
Nights in Rodanthe

And this barely scratches the surface.

The latest Melissa McCarthy film, Tammy, was filmed almost exclusively in the Old North State, with good old White Lake as the setting for the Jet ski scene that has made it into the trailer.

I haven't seen Tammy, so I can't speak to WHERE the movie actually takes place (aside from the fact that the protagonist is apparently en route to Niagara Falls). Maybe the movie takes place in North Carolina. But, as Brendan Szulik recently pointed out at Raleigh & Company, probably not. Very few movies filmed in North Carolina actually take place in North Carolina -- unless you count (egads) some of Bad Grandpa. And maybe that's for the best. Otherwise we'd probably come off looking like hicks and hillbillies.

The one movie that I feel like truly captured the essence of N.C. -- particularly RURAL N.C. -- was Junebug. I can remember watching scenes and thinking, "I know those people!" or, "I've been in a house just like that!" But even that film featured a crazy, perverted artist out in the sticks.

I guess you win some and you lose some.