I first saw Legally Blonde in the movie theaters right after it was first released. The movie was a bit silly at times, but I really enjoyed it. I saw the movie again not to long ago when I rented the DVD. That time I watched it with my mother, and she even liked it. Legally Blonde was a fun lighthearted movie that was enjoyable to watch.

PLOT

Elle Woods was getting ready for a big date with her boyfriend Warner Huntington III. She and her friends were convinced that he was going to propose. His grandmother had just been in town to visit her grandson. Elle and her friends thought that she had come for the visit to give Warner a huge engagement ring so that he could give it to Elle. The ring, Elle thought of it as the rock, had been in the Huntington family for years. Elle was excited about the upcoming evening.

Warner had other plans though. Instead of proposing he dumped Elle, saying he needed a girlfriend that was more serious if he was going to be a Senator someday. Elle was crushed. She spent days in bed until her friends - who do meet every stereotype and cliche of dumb blonds, and one of them isn't blond - took her to get a manicure to feel better. While at the salon Elle flipped through a magazine and saw a picture of Warner's brother and the woman he was going to marry, a first year law student. Elle then came up with her plan to get Warner back. She'll go to Harvard Law school like Warner, and show him that she was smart and serious. Then he was supposed to realize he’d been wrong and take her back. Elle made plans to get into Harvard Law. She was discouraged by several people, including her parents. Elle spent hours studying for the LSATS. When she got her results back, she was thrilled because she scored high enough to go to Harvard. She made a very creative video that helped her get accepted. So off to Harvard she went, taking her cute little dog, Bruiser with her, and a huge moving truck driving behind her.

She was laughed at when she arrived at Harvard. Some of the other students called her Malibu Barbie. People took one look at her and assumed she was an air head idiot because of how she dressed and her bubbly personality. Professor Stromwell even threw Elle out of her first class because she wasn't prepared. She saw Warner again, only to find out he got engaged over the summer to his prep school girl friend Vivian Kensington. Vivian had the rock on her ring finger. Elle was heartbroken again and ended up in a salon to get a manicure. She became friends with Paulette, the woman who did her manicure.

Elle had been ready to give up on law school and her plan to get Warner back, but after talking with Paulette, she decided to stick with it. She started to win over people, including one of her instructors, Professor Callahan, and Emmett. He worked at Callahan’s law firm and was some kind of teaching assistant to Callahan. Elle helped Paulette out with a few things and encouraged her to act on her attraction for the UPS Guy who made deliveries at the salon.

Elle, Warner, Vivian, and Enid are picked by Professor Callahan to work as interns at his law firm. They were helping on help on a huge murder case. Brooke Taylor Windham, a famous exercise instructor, was accused of murdering her husband. Elle knew who Brook was right away. Brooke had also been in the same soriety that Elle had been president of. The two women bonded. It did seem far fetched that freshmen law students would be working on a high profile case, but some of the funniest moments in the movie happened during the trial. Elle's fashion and beauty knowledge ended up helping a great deal during the trial.

Was Elle a success at Harvard Law School? Did she get Warner back? Did she still even want him back?

CAST

Reese Witherspoon - Elle Woods
Luke Wilson - Emmett
Selma Blair - Vivian Kensington
Matthew Davis - Warner Huntington III
Victor Garber - Professor Callahan
Jennifer Coolidge - Paulette
Holland Taylor - Professor Stromwell
Ali Larter - Brooke Taylor Windham
Bruce Thomas - UPS Guy
Meredith Scott Lynn - Enid
Linda Caulfield - Chutney Windham
Raquel Welsh - Mrs. Windham Vandermark

Robert Luketic - Director

Screenplay by Karen McCullah Lutz.

Legally Blonde was released in theaters in 2001. It is not available on VHS and DVD. I first saw the movie in my local theater and I have rented the DVD to see the movie again. Legally Blonde was based on a book by Amanda Brown. The movie was rated PG-13 for some language and sexual references. The language really wasn’t that bad in the movie, but it could be offensive to some people. I don’t think that young children should see the movie because of those things. Younger children would probably be bored by the movie anyway.

Legally Blonde was just a very funny enjoyable movie. It wasn't about anything serious, and it didn't try to be serious. This was a movie to see to be entertained and forget about things. I think this was a chick flick type of movie, so women are more likely to enjoy it, but there are a few scenes involving Elle and her friends in bikinis that should help make the viewing less painful for men. The movie was rather silly at times, but I don’t see that as a bad thing. I like silly movies sometimes. Some of the things that happened in the movie were unrealistic, but that was ok for me because the movie was entertaining to me. I haven’t been to law school, so I don’t know how things work there, but it did seem a bit far fetched that first year law students would be doing so much work on a high profile murder case.

There was a small touch of romance in Legally Blonde. At the beginning of the movie, Elle was getting ready for a big date with her boyfriend Warner. The two had been dating for a long time and Elle thought they were ready to move to the next step and get engaged. She was honestly shocked when Warner broke up with her instead. The rest of the movie followed Elle as she tried to win Warner back. Paulette had been burned badly when her marriage broke up, so she was gun shy about starting a new relationship. She had been attracted to the UPS guy for a while, but she didn’t act on it until Elle encouraged her. Elle ended up spending a lot of time with Emmett, and they grew closer. Emmett was always encouraging to Elle. There was no nudity in the movie and no sex scenes, though later in the movie a male character did sexually harass a female character.

There were some things in Legally Blonde that reminded me of Clueless. Elle could be Cher, the main character from Clueless, in college. Elle was very popular and the president of her soriety. She as very into fashion. Her major was some field in the fashion industry but I can't remember exactly what now. She had her own sense of style and wore unique outfits that worked for her. Elle seemed to be an air head when people first met her, but she was much smarter than people gave her credit for. Cher was very popular in her high school. She loved shopping and fashion. She wore some unique outfits at times. Cher also acted like a ditz at times, but she was smarter than people gave her credit for. Both characters had to deal with others making assumptions about based on their appearance and personalities.

There were several characters in Legally Blonde. Elle was the main character and the most developed. She changed and grew over the course of the movie. Warner and Elle had been dating for a long time before he dumped her. She followed him to Harvard Law School in an attempt to win him back. Even though he was the whole reason for Elle going to law school, he wasn’t in as much of the movie. Vivian first showed up when Elle met her at law school. Vivian and Warner had dated during prep school and they got engaged over the summer. Vivian was a stuck up snobby woman who jumped to all kinds of conclusions about Elle. Vivian loved it when Elle messed up. Vivian seemed to be a cold person. By the end of the movie, she also changed a lot. She and Elle actually got to know each other and became friends. Paulette became a good friend of Elle’s and was in several scenes, but not much about her was known outside of her work at the salon. She shared what had happened during her divorce with Elle and her feelings for the UPS man, but that was about it. Emmett turned up frequently throughout the movie, but he wasn’t that well developed. Two of the professors did play an important part in the movie, but they weren’t developed much at all. More than one of the characters changed or did something surprising by the end of the movie.

The acting in Legally Blonde was quite good. Reese Witherspoon was really good as Elle. She was funny in some scenes and serious when it was needed. She managed to make some silly situations work. She has been in many movies in the last few years, and I have seen several of them. She is a good actress, and this movie helped to show her range since Elle was different from other characters she had played before, like her character in Cruel Intentions. I haven’t seen her newest movie, Sweet Home Alabama, yet but I hope to see it soon. Selma Blair was believable as the stuck up Vivian. I have seen her in a few movies, and she seems to be talented. She was also in Cruel Intentions with Reese Witherspoon. Victor Garber was also good as Professor Callahan. That role was very different from the one he plays on the television show Alias. The other actors were also good, but not too much stood out about their performances to me.

DVD EXTRAS

The DVD version of Legally Blonde contained some extras and I was able to check out some of them when I rented it recently.

There were two audio commentaries and a trivia track on the same side of the DVD as the movie. The other side contained more extras.

There were eight deleted scenes. The director talked before the scenes, explaining some things about them and why he ended up deciding to delete them.

There were two featurettes. The first one, Inside Legally Blonde, had some interviews with people who were involved in the making of the movie. The author of the book, Amanda Brown, explained how she came to write the book while she was a student at law school. She took her dog to law school and felt like she didn’t fit it. She thought she was a lot like Elle. The screen writers for the movie actually sat in on some classes at Stanford Law School. Brown said that she molded the character of Warner after George W. Bush. While the interviews with Brown, the director and the producer were played, some scenes of the movie were played, including some shots of scenes being filmed and some out takes.

The second featurette, The Hair That Ate Hollywood, discussed what went into deciding on the hairstyles for the move. Elle had 40 different hair styles throughout the movie. She had a different hair style for each different outfit that she wore. The colorists and hair stylists talked about their work on the movie while some shots of the movie played.

There was a music video for the song Perfect Day by Hoku. The song played at the beginning of the movie. There were also two trailers on the DVD. The first was the original theatrical trailer for Legally Blonde and the second was for the Princess Bride Special Edition DVD.

I really enjoyed Legally Blonde both times I have seen it. It was a fun, entertaining movie to see. People who like those types of movies may also like this one. Fans of Reese Witherspoon should see this movie.
A sequel to Legally Blonde will be out in the summer of 2003. I plan to see it.

Related Reviews
Legally Blonde 2
American Pie 2

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older