Summer has, at times, been considered the season of the popcorn movie. The trick, often, is to get popcorn, and then find a good excuse to go back into the show. Often, studios give us a popcorn movie that's more lightweight than the popcorn. Therefore, finding the films that are, at least, equal in weight to the popcorn is the real challenge.

My favorite popcorn film of last summer was "Coyote Ugly," where a young woman went to New York to pursue her dream of being a songwriter while working at a local club. It was simple, sweet, and fun. The first film I've seen this summer that fits that mold is "Legally Blonde," about a young woman determined to prove that she's not just a dumb blonde, in spite of any appearance she might make to the contrary.

Reese Witherspoon ("Election") stars as Elle Woods, a college senior who's expecting her boyfriend, Warner Huntington III (Matthew Davis, "Pearl Harbor") to propose to her. Warner, however, has political ambitions, and those plans don't call for him to be linked to someone who looks and sounds like (to borrow a line from Don Henley) a bubble-headed bleach blonde. Their lives weren't on the same page, and Elle, who is neither a bubble head nor a bleach blonde (in fact, she was her sorority's president), was the last to know.

Before Warner realizes his political career, though, he is headed to Harvard Law School. Elle, who had majored in fashion marketing, decides to prove her brains by preparing for the LSAT exam. Nobody believes Elle can pass this exam except Elle herself. When she surprises everybody else and passes, she's off to Harvard, where she looks less like a law student and more like someone who took a wrong turn trying to find Rodeo Drive. When the students aren't giving Elle a rude awakening, her professors, Dr. Stromwell (Holland Taylor, "The Truman Show") and Dr. Callahan (Victor Garber, "Titanic") are. Only one person, an assistant of Callahan's named Emmett (Luke Wilson, "My Dog Skip"), makes any effort to make Elle feel welcome.

Eventually, Elle catches up to a surprised Warner, who is now dating fellow law student Vivian Kensington (Selma Blair, "Cruel Intentions"), a woman more fitting his future image. Even they don't believe she belongs there, but soon she begins to silence her critics. Elle starts to make the steps to find the balance between the woman she is and the lawyer she wants to be. She even uses her knowledge of the law to help a salon worker named Paulette (Jennifer Coolidge, "Down To Earth"), who was kicked out of the place she shared with her longtime boyfriend.

As she continues to impress in the classroom, Dr. Callahan calls on Elle to be part of a defense team of a murder trial. Emmett is also a part of Callahan's team. The defendant, successful fitness guru Brooke Taylor Windham (Ali Larter, "Final Destination"), is accused of murdering her husband. Certain evidence points toward Brooke. Mr. Windham's former wife (Raquel Welch, "Kansas City Bomber"), was in another state, and his daughter, Chutney (Linda Cardellini, alum of TV's "Freaks And Geeks"), saw Brooke over the body. The defense searches for the fact that will prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Brooke is not guilty.

People have correctly drawn comparisons between "Legally Blonde" and "Clueless," but I think another film that "Legally Blonde" resembles is "Private Benjamin," where Goldie Hawn played a person making the transition from pampered princess to her own woman. Witherspoon delivers a winning performance as Elle, easily hiding her brain behind her smile and her looks. In an early scene in a boutique, Elle knows that the sales clerk is out to make a fast buck at her expense. Elle plays along, waiting for the clerk to answer her questions wrong. It's a variation of the student she played in "Election," except Elle demands of herself instead of others.

Based on the book by Amanda Brown, "Legally Blonde" marks the feature film debut of Robert Luketic, who shows he's familiar with comedies about women dealing with knocks on their looks. In fact, Luketic made a short film in Australia four years ago about such a woman entitled (and I'm not making this up) "Titsiana Booberini." Luketic maintains a consistent light comedic touch in "Legally Blonde" until the film's courtroom climax. Elle is dumbed down a bit too much at this point, bringing a shopping bag and her chihuahua to court along with her briefs. Still, "Legally Blonde" has enough style and substance to make it enjoyable. I also enjoyed the movie's theme song, an infectious pop tune entitled "Perfect Day" by Hoku. If you take the term "popcorn movie" literally, order enough to last yourself the whole picture.

Recommended:
Yes

Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older