Legally Blonde (2001) starring Reese Witherspoon, Luke Wilson, Selma Blair, Jennifer Coolidge, Ali Larter, Matthew Davis, Victor Garber, Jessica Cauffiel, Alanna Ubach, Bruce Thomas, Raquel Welch directed by Robert Luektic Movie Review

Legally Blonde (2001)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Reese Witherspoon as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde

Blonde but Not Clueless

Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon - Cruel Intentions) has it all. She's the president of her sorority, a Hawaiian Tropic girl, Miss June in her campus calendar, and, above all, a natural blonde. She dates the cutest fraternity boy on campus and wants nothing more than to be Mrs. Warner Huntington III. But, there's just one thing stopping Warner (Matthew Davis) from popping the question: Elle is too blonde. Growing up across the street from Aaron Spelling might mean something in LA, but nothing to Warner's East-Coast blue blood family. So, when Warner packs up for Harvard Law and reunites with an old sweetheart from prep school, Elle rallies all her resources and gets into Harvard, determined to win him back. But law school is a far cry from the comforts of her poolside and the mall. Elle must wage the battle of her life, for her guy, for herself and for all the blondes who suffer endless indignities everyday

Right from the initial scenes "Legally Blonde" sets up the perfect, pink world of Elle and the overly girlieness of it is very funny. But the real comedy starts when she sets herself the task of getting into Harvard, with the unbelievably funny promotional video. This is then capitalized on when she reaches Harvard and brings her pink world into its very staid atmosphere of sensible clothing and seriousness. Unlike many modern comedies, "Legally Blonde" works on displaying situation comedy rather than placing purposeful jokes throughout the movie. The humour itself comes mainly in the form of the girlie pastiche which is totally over the top and as a bloke, I found myself laughing at most of it and being thankful that I don't live in a pink world.

Jennifer Coolidge and Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde

The casting of Reese Witherspoon as Elle Woods was a masterful stroke, as she displays all the girlie characteristics down to a tee. Her performance works on several levels as her naivety, girlie notions and good looks appeals to a wide demographic of viewers, both male and female. As her nemesis Vivian, is Selma Blair a very typical law student, in her boring clothes who despises everything about Elle. The interaction between the two of them is great, especially as she realizes that Elle may not be the dizzy blonde that she initially expected. The third most important character in the movie is that of teaching assistant Emmett, played by Luke Wilson . Although his character is not that strong, it is his relationship with Elle as mentor and friend makes his role pivotal in the story.

There are 2 other notable performances which add to the appeal of "legally Blonde", these come from Jennifer Coolidge as Elle's beauty therapist friend, and Ali Larter as fitness instructor Brook. Both of which are very enjoyable for different reasons and add a bit more interest to an already enjoyable film.

"Legally Blonde" is directed by Australian Robert Luketic who went on to direct "Monster-in-Law". In some ways it surprises me that such a girlie movie was directed by a man, but in doing so he has created a film which will appeal to men as well as women. The soundtrack to "Legally Blonde" is mainly along a romantic theme alternating between soft numbers to up tempo fun numbers. In all honesty it is pretty unmemorable as soundtracks goes but does include 3 of my favourite numbers "You Sexy Thing" by Hot Chocolate, "Sex Machine" by James Brown and "Get Down on it" by Kool & the Gang.

What this all boils down to is that "Legally Blonde" is a reasonable film if you are looking for something just to relax in front of, with out having to think. Although it is predictable, like many films these days, the appeal of this film lies within the comedy and of course Witherspoon's performance. Although mainly intended for a predominantly female, teenage market, it has a certain amount of appeal to all ages of viewers, whether male or female and makes for an enjoyable movie for the whole family to watch.


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