LEGALLY BLONDE
2001

July 12, 2001
AMC Mercado

Ditzy sorority president is dumped by her boyfriend so she follows him to Harvard Law School where she starts to shine as an attorney.

-->Directed.....Robert Luketic
-->Elle Woods.....Reese Witherspoon [King Of The Hill, Friends, The Man In The Moon, Fear, Freeway, Overnight Delivery, Pleasantville, Cruel Intentions, Election]
-->Emmett.....Luke Wilson [Scream 2, Rushmore, Preston Tylk]
-->Vivian Kensington.....Selma Blair [In & Out, Can't Hardly Wait, Cruel Intentions]

Check your brain at the door. It's not unpleasant to sit back on a Summer's night and let a movie unspool in front of you without you having to lift a mental finger to figure it out. The full house at my screening couldn't have been happier. Funny things happen, the nice people win at the end, and everyone goes home happy. Selma Blair is the best thing about this film. She'll find her lead role soon that will rocket her to fame. The character of Elle is supposed to be so unbelievably hot that no one could picture her at Harvard Law. She has several scenes where she laments her appearance saying 'all they see is blonde hair and big boobs'. But the thing is, Witherspoon is attractive (especially her eyes), but she's not drop dead gorgeous. The dialogue should have been changed somewhat to reflect that while Witherspoon is blonde and good-looking, there are, in fact, women in law school who are more attractive than she. But that's sort of beside the point. The film is about how a clueless young woman can bring a different perspective to a trial than someone who is brilliant, but doesn't know people. It could have been worse.

I'm still amazed at the reaction that gay jokes receive in this day and age. The crowd just about had a riot when one character was discovered to be gay. We really haven't come as far as I thought we had.