Reese Witherspoon is Back as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde 2
Written: Jul 12 '03
Product Rating:
Pros: Reese Witherspoon. Fun, lighthearted movie
Cons: Silly at times. Where did Emmett go?
The Bottom Line: Legally Blonde 2 was a very fun, entertaining movie. It is a little silly at times, but it was good. Fans of Legally Blonde should enjoy it.
dragonfire88's Full Review: Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde
A few years ago, my friend and I saw Legally Blonde and loved it. The movie was a bit silly, but it was good. Reese Witherspoon was wonderful as Elle. Sometime last year I heard that a sequel was being made, and I’ve been looking forward to seeing it since then. The same friend and I went off to see Legally Blonde 2 and really liked it too.
For a quick recap, Elle Woods was a pretty, popular young woman getting ready to graduate from college. She was the president of her sorority and was sure her boyfriend Warner was going to propose. Instead he said he needed a more serious, non-blonde woman to marry. Elle was devastated for a while and then she came up with a plan. She decided she would be the serious woman Warner wanted. She managed to get accepted to Harvard Law, where Warner was going, and she headed off with her little dog Brusier. Once at Harvard, Elle had some obstacles to over come. She found that Warner was engaged to a woman named Vivian who seemed to hate her on sight. Elle didn’t give up though. Many people jumped to conclusions about her because she was blonde and perky.
Elle graduated from Harvard and was working at a law firm. Her boyfriend Emmett recently proposed, giving her a large pink ring. He was a professor at Harvard Law. Elle was thrilled and was ready to start planning the perfect wedding. She decided that she needed to track down Bruiser’s mother and invite her to the wedding. She felt Bruiser’s mother should be there. So she hired a private detective. He seemed to think she was a bit wacky because of her request, but he took the case. Bruiser’s mother was quickly found, and Elle and Bruiser headed off to visit, only to learn that she was being used for testing at a cosmetic company.
Elle was very upset by what she learned. The cosmetic company was a client of the firm where she worked, so she thought she could get the partners to help her do something about the situation. Instead, she was fired. Elle was sad for a while and then decided on a course of action. She was going to Washington, D.C. to work with Representative Victoria Rudd to get a law banning testing on animals by cosmetic companies passed.
Elle was her normal perky self when she arrived at Victoria’s office. Elle again had to deal with people who made assumptions about her because of her love of pink and her upbeat personality and unique way of doing things. Elle had her work cut out for her to get Bruiser’s law passed with all the opposition she was facing. Some people deliberately set Elle up to look stupid in certain situations. She was also working to plan her wedding. Along the way, Elle made some new friends, like Sid, the doorman at the apartment building she was living at in D.C.
CAST
Reese Witherspoon - Elle Woods
Sally Field - Representative Victoria Rudd
Regina King - Grace Russiter
Jennifer Coolidge - Paulette
Bruce McGill - Stanford Marks
Dana Ivey - Congresswoman Libby Hauser
Luke Wilson - Emmett Richmond
Bob Newhart - Sid
Legally Blonde 2 was released in theaters on July 2, 2003. The movie was rated PG-12 and 95 minutes long. There wasn’t really any swearing in the movie, but there were a few suggestive things said once or twice. There was no nudity, though a few characters did wear some outfits that showed up a bit more skin. There really isn’t anything in the movie that would be horrible for a child to see. However, young children would probably be bored by what was going on in the movie.
I did enjoy Legally Blonde 2. Overall it is a light hearted, fun movie. It did touch the serious subject of animals being used as test subjects. The movie also showed some of how things are done in Washington, D.C. It was shown how to get a law passed, though it was done in Elle’s unique way. The basics of how it really is done were covered, and the movie reminded me of what I had learned in school about the process but forgotten. It was fun to see Elle shake up Washington and do things a bit differently.
Legally Blonde 2 started up a little while after Legally Blonde ended. I’m not sure how much time had passed, but I don’t think it was too much. When the first movie ended, it said that Emmett was going to propose that night. When this movie started, they were engaged, though Elle was just getting into the wedding planning. Elle was the same fun, perky woman she’d been in the first movie. She was a bit naive at times, but she wasn’t stupid. People underestimated her and assumed she was just a ditzy blonde again because of her hair color and wardrobe choices. There is no law that says a smart person can’t wear fun clothes and color. I don’t blame Elle for doing that at all. Black and navy blue is so boring. I never wear those colors - though I’m not a lawyer either. I think if I was, I’d find some way to avoid those colors. They’re depressing.
There really wasn’t too much about Legally Blonde 2 that was different from the first movie. Elle decided that something was going to happen, only to have a man - first Warner, and then her boss - shoot that down. She was left in a funk for a while until she decided on a new plan. Even after she had her plan, she had to bring some people around, much like she had to do in the first movie once she arrived at Harvard. There was a woman about Elle’s age, Grace, who seemed to hate her on sight and went out of her way to be rude and nasty. She wanted to see Elle fail. In the first movie Elle was on her mission only to get her boyfriend back. In this movie, she was fighting for a more serious cause that effected many people.
Elle of course returned from the first movie. There were a few others who also turned up in Legally Blonde 2. Paulette, the woman who became Elle’s close friend in Boston, was back, but she only turned up a few times. Emmett was in even less of the movie than Paulette. Most of his scenes, including one at the beginning of the movie, were phone calls to Elle. There were very few scenes that had them actually together. I was thinking that maybe that was done because Luke Wilson has been busier with other movies lately. Right now he is in two other movies that are in the theaters too - Alex and Emma and Charlie’s Angels Full Throttle. Maybe he couldn’t get away from other movies to shoot more scenes for this movie. Regardless of why it happened, I was disappointed that Emmett wasn’t in more of the movie. Since he was practically nonexistent in the movie, there really wasn’t any romance to the movie.
Elle was working on wedding plans now and again throughout the movie, but it never focused on that. Two of Elle’s sorority sisters did turn up a few times, first to throw her a shower with Paulette and then to help her with getting the bill passed near the end of the movie. I think they were in the movie more than Emmett. I was a little disappointed that Vivian didn’t turn up at least once. When the first movie ended, it said that Elle and Vivian had become really good friends. If they were that close, it seems like she would have been around at some point to help or support Elle with trying to get Bruiser’s bill passed. Elle’s parents were only briefly in the first movie, but they didn’t turn up even once this time. I would’ve thought that they would have shown up at least once since their only daughter was planning her wedding.
Elle met a new group of people in Legally Blonde 2. She was working for Victoria Rudd, a representative. Grace worked for Victoria, and took an instant dislike to Elle. Grace seemed to enjoy causing trouble or making Elle look foolish. She was nasty at times. Elle became friends with Sid, the doorman of the building where she was living. He’d worked there for many years, and picked up a lot of things that were going on in D.C. He was able to use his unique knowledge to help Elle more than once. That relationship really reminded of the one that Elle and Paulette had in the first movie. They met when Elle was down about something, and each of them - Paulette and Sid - were able to cheer her up.
In the first movie, Elle used her knowledge of beauty and hair care to her advantage at a very important moment in the movie. She was able to do something similar in Legally Blonde 2, though the revelation wasn’t as important. Even though Elle graduated from Harvard and became a successful lawyer, she still had her fashion sense and knowledge. In both of the movies, pink scented paper was used for something important, because it gives that little something extra. I did like that the movie stayed true to the character of Elle from the first movie, and even carried some things forward - like the pink scented paper.
I thought that the acting in Legally Blonde 2 was good. Reese Witherspoon was delightful as Elle. She really brought that character to life in a way that made me care about the character. She was fun and perky, but also intelligent. I’ve seen her in a few other movies, and I’ve really liked her in them. She has played roles in Cruel Intentions and Sweet Home Alabama that were very different from Elle. Jennifer Coolidge has played Stifler’s mom in American Pie and American Pie 2. Her role was small in those movies, but very different from Paulette. I can’t remember what else I’ve seen Luke Wilson in, but I’m sure I’ve seen him in something else.
CHARACTERS
Elle Woods - A young, perky, blonde lawyer. She is planning her wedding and decides that she needs to find her dog’s mother. Elle wants to invite Bruiser’s mom to the wedding. She learns some upsetting things and is determined to do something to change things. She knows a lot about fashion and style, but she is intelligent. She just has her own way of doing things.
Representative Victoria Rudd - Elle is working for her. Victoria is going to sponsor a bill to ban animal testing. Victoria was happy to have Elle working with her.
Emmett - The man Elle is going to marry. He is a professor at Harvard. He is supportive of what Elle is doing, but he stayed home in Boston.
Paulette - One of the Elle’s close friends. She was a manicurist and married the UPS man she’d had a huge crush on. Paulette was helping Elle plan the wedding and work to get the law passed.
Sid - Doorman of Elle’s building in D.C. He cheered her up one day when she was upset. He had worked there for a long time, and he’d picked up on things that went on in D.C. He shared some of his knowledge with Elle.
I really enjoyed Legally Blonde 2. I was disappointed by a few things, but overall I really enjoyed it. People who liked the first movie should give this one a chance. Fans of Reese Witherspoon should also give it a chance. People who hated Legally Blonde shouldn’t bother with this one.
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