Susan Granger’s review of “LEGALLY BLONDE” (M.G.M.)
It’s a “Pretty in Pink”/”Clueless” coming-of-age story for the new millennium as Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon), a perky Southern California sorority queen, switches from fashion to law in order to win back her yuppy boyfriend (Matthew Davis). The girl-power story begins as this sweetheart of Delta Nu is unceremoniously dumped by a bonehead who says: “If I’m going to be a Senator by the time I’m 30…I need to marry a Jackie, not a Marilyn.” Determined to prove she’s as smart a snobby brunette (Selma Blair) from country-club Connecticut, Elle not only applies to Harvard Law School but gets in, much to the amazement of family, friends and faculty. Once there, this flaxen-haired fish-out-of-water not only survives but tenaciously thrives, befriending a local manicurist (Jennifer Coolidge), dazzling a professor (Victor Garber) and rescuing a defendant (Ali Larter) in a celebrated Boston murder trial, plus finding a more worthy beau (Luke Wilson). In the tradition of teen-comedy film-maker John Hughes and his disciple Amy Heckerling, there’s wit, cheerfulness, a fidelity of observation and a penchant for problem-solving. First-time feature director Robert Luketic is blessed with Reese Witherspoon who’s joyously incandescent in this utterly formulaic light comedy written by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith, based on a soon-to-be-published novel by Amanda Brown. The supporting cast is terrific, particularly Raquel Welch and Holland Taylor – and I particularly got a kick out of the gag of Elle distributing scented resumes in pink, her signature color On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Legally Blonde” is a frivolous, funny, feel-good 8. Filled with ditzy blonde ambition, it’s a movie for high-school kids that their parents would be happy to have them see.
