Movie Review: Legally Blonde

Stars: 5 out of 5
Pros: Reese Witherspoon; lots to laugh and cheer

Cons: Predictable; mindless

The Bottom Line:

Mindless comedy

That turns out to be funny

And has brains and heart

Movie Length Blonde Joke?

It sounds like the set up for a blonde joke. Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon) is the sorority leader and just about to graduate with a fashion design degree. On the night she expects her long time boyfriend, Warner Huntington III (Matthew Davis), to propose, he dumps her instead.

But Elle isn't going to take it lying down. She gets herself accepted to Harvard Law School and follows Warner across the country so she can convince him it is true love.

What shocks this California native is just how had the work is. It's soon obvious that everyone just thinks she is one big joke. To top it off, Warner is already engaged to someone else. Will she win him back? Can she bit in at Harvard or should she pack up and return to California?

Now this sounds like the set up for one big blonde joke. And it certainly starts off that way. Elle is your typical blonde airhead who just doesn't get the world around her. But part way through, it becomes an empowerment movie when Elle decides to prove she can hang at Harvard. Equally interesting is the murder trial that takes up much of the second half. Improbable that Elle would be working on one, even as an intern? You bet. Do I care? Not in the least.

See, this is a movie made strictly for entertainment purposes. It's only goal in life is to entertain. Yes, there are things that would never happen in the real world (like Elle getting into Harvard in the first place). But you aren't supposed to think too hard about this movie. Just let it entertain you.

And it's got what it takes to entertain. There are some truly funny gags in the film. Several of them you can see coming, but that doesn't matter. You'll still laugh with the best of them. And the movie has heart. The laughs are still strong in the second half, they just spread them around a little more as Elle grows as a character.

The success of this movie is really thanks to Reese Witherspoon. While the rest of the cast is great, she truly shines as Elle. It's easy to fall for her early on since it's obvious she has a big heart even if she seems totally self absorbed. The movie features a fun cameo by Raquel Welch and some great acting by Victor Garber and Holland Taylor as professors at Harvard.

This is a first rate DVD. The picture and sound have been well preserved. The audio commentaries are a mixed bag, some interesting information mixed in with a "You were wonderful" love fest. My favorite feature is the deleted scenes. They helped fill in a couple of small gaps. And there's a great gag in one as well. There was reference made on the disc to a few scenes that weren't included in the deleted scenes, which surprised me a little. I guess these scenes were cut before they were filmed.

If you're looking for a lightweight, funny movie, this is for you. Legally Blonde doesn't break any new ground, but you'll have so much fun getting to the end you really won't care.