Legally Blond Review
by Tim Wick

What does it take to make a formulaic fish out of water comedy seem fresh and fun?

Reese Witherspoon.

No, this is not some sort of bizarre joke. Legally Blonde is a treat of a film thanks almost completely to Witherspoon's engaging style and screen presence. Without her, this film would be little more than "Clueless goes to Harvard Law School."

Well, that's kind of what it is anyway, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Witherspoon plays Elle Woods, a sorority president completely defined by her desire to marry future senator Warner Huntington III. When Warner dumps her because he needs a "Jackie, not a Marilyn," Elle is heartbroken. Her only choice is to go to Harvard and become a Jackie. And wacky hijinks ensue.

But aside from Witherspoon as Elle, what makes this whole thing work is the fact that Elle is not an idiot. True, her intelligence may have been channeled in other directions, but we see from the beginning that she is someone who COULD have been accepted at Harvard had she ever put her mind to doing so. Told she needs a 175 on her LSAT's she sets about two important tasks. First, she has to educate herself on what the LSAT's are. Second, she has to get a 175. If Elle were just a dumb blonde, we couldn't buy the fact that she got the score she needed and the remainder of the film would be a loss. That the film took the time to let us know she has a brain, we can effortlessly go on the ride.

So often in this kind of comedy, the character discovers brains that neither they or the audience even knew existed. I suppose that is fine in an underdog movie where we all figure if that screw up can make it - so can we. Elle is no underdog. She is rich, spoiled and certainly can find anther man to replace Warner. By making sure we know she's no dummy, we are instinctively pulling for her to figure that out for herself.

The perkiness that Witherspoon brings to the role is perfect. Through each trial and misstep, Elle finds a way to make lemonade. When someone plays a practical joke on her, she simply behaves as if the whole thing was her idea. Her confidence in herself is often shaken, but never really destroyed. Because of that, she is inherently likeable despite the fact she owns a Chihuahua (an immediate strike in my book).

Equally important is the fact that the stock characters in this film are just ever so slightly different than you think. In particular, Warner's new girlfriend Vivian (Selma Blair) has a pleasing and quite natural character arc that is significantly different from what I expected when I first saw her.

I've seen many critics compare this film to Clueless unfavorably. While I agree that the script for Clueless is far sassier and amusing than this light matinee fare, Witherspoon makes a far more endearing heroine than Silverstone did. Ultimately, the movie is riding on her performance and she does not disappoint.

Legally Blond

Four Beakers
(out of five)

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