Overall: C+ While Elle Woods does her best to dispel the blonde stereotype, the sexual content and language make Legally Blonde a family crime. This film surprised me. I walked in without expecting too much and came out elated and felt that I was spending the 100 minutes at the theater wisely with my fiancé. The film wasn`t something to write about, but it was certainly an enjoyable viewing. Reese Witherspoon brilliantly plays the dirty blonde Elle Woods, who is suing her law student boyfriend, who is leaving her for a more “serious” partner. The characters are likeable and you certainly care about Her, how she feels, and what she does. There are a lot of funny and cute moments and the cast is well balanced. In The Music Man, the blonde character, played by Shirley Jones, turns out to be River City`s smartest resident. But not all of today`s good comedies that are rated PG-13 can get away with it. Legally, Blonde is tainted here and there by unnecessary innuendo or coarse humor of a sexual nature. While another court/right-centric comedy, Liar Liar, was much more blatant and brutally rough, Legally Blonde thankfully doesn`t cross the line as often as expected. In fact, sometimes it`s so out of left field that you wonder why they had to include this in the first place.
The film`s main trial involves a woman accused of murder, and the question of why she would have raised many clues about a possible affair she was having. This has led to several jokes and conversations that are inappropriate for a younger audience, and have only harmed the film instead of helping in any way. If the first Legally Blonde didn`t feel quite comfortable for family visits, Reese at least allowed Witherspoon to explore the challenge of facing one of the most stereotypical characters in our society: the stupid blonde. While many other films failed to feature naïve characters who suddenly spew out statements of intellectual sophistication, both of these films used Elle`s superior knowledge of beauty products to create a believable reason for our protagonist`s genius. “LEGAL BLONDE” (2001) (Reese Witherspoon, Luke Wilson) (PG-13) Alcohol/Drugs Disrespectful blood/blood/Bad attitude Scary/tense scenes Guns/Weapons Moderate None *No imitationJumpScenes behavior Music (scary/tense) Music (inappropriate) Mild obscenity No moderate sex/nudity Tense smoking Family scenes Topics to talk about violence Moderate No minors Moderate Minor QUICK TAKE: Comedy: Hope to win back her notorious boyfriend who calls her because of her golden curls, an otherwise happy blonde who is accepted into the same law school he attends, and then has to deal with other people`s preconceptions about her based on her appearance. LAND: Elle Woods (REESE WITHERSPOON) has lived the good life. Not only is she a natural blonde who comes from a wealthy family, but she is also an honorary student and the president of her sisterhood, Delta Nu, was a homecoming queen at CULA and has two great friends in sister sisters Margot (JESSICA CAUFFIEL) and Serena (ALANNA UBACH). Then there`s her boyfriend, Warner Huntington III (MATTHEW DAVIS), on whom all the other girls faint and wish they could be theirs. She and her friends believe that he is going to propose to her at a fancy dinner, but to her surprise, he decides to drop her because she is too blonde and not serious enough or smart enough for his political future, which is supposed to start with attending Harvard Law School.
Desperate to win him back, she decides to enroll in it too – despite her degree in fashion merchandising – and manages to learn hard enough and use her perkiness and sexuality to be admitted. When she arrives in Massachusetts from California, she stands out as a sore thumb — not only because of her hair, but also because of her bubbly personality and extravagant clothes — and tries to look surprised when she meets Warner. She soon realizes that her plan will not be as simple as initially thought. Her first teacher, Professor Stromwell (HOLLAND TAYLOR), puts her in her place because she is not prepared for classes, and it turns out that Warner now sees Vivian Kensington (SELMA BLAIR), another law student he dated in kindergarten and who now seems determined to be a constant thorn in Elle`s side. She finds a soulmate in Paulette (JENNIFER COOLIDGE), a local manicurist, and receives advice from Emmett (LUKE WILSON), a legal assistant to Professor Callahan (VICTOR GARBER), an instructor who is also a practicing lawyer and is looking for promising students to complete his internship program. When Warner insults Elle`s potential again, she decides to prove him wrong and sets out to get one of these seats. When she and other law students like Enid (MERDITH SCOTT LYNN) and David (OZ PERKINS) compete for internships, she eventually helps Callahan in a murder case in which her client, Brooke Taylor Windham (ALI LARTER), a former Delta Nu, has been accused of shooting her rich, much older husband. When the case begins and witnesses such as the deceased`s adult daughter, Chutney (LINDA CARDELLINI), her mother, Mrs. Windham Vandermark (RAQUEL WELCH), the deceased`s ex-wife, and Enrique (GREG SERANO), the pool boy, set out to help her sister sister and prove that blondes can have fun and do something of themselves at the same time.
WILL CHILDREN WANT TO SEE IT? Many teens will probably want to see it, especially if they`re fans of someone in the cast or liked movies like “Clueless” and “10 Things I Hate About You.” WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13 For language and sexual references. REESE WITHERSPOON plays a cheeky and bubbly student who decides to study law to get her boyfriend back after he leaves her because she is too blonde and not serious enough for her reputation. Although she sometimes behaves dirty, she is intelligent and eventually proves herself. She briefly uses blasphemies. JESSICA CAUFFIEL and ALANNA UBACH play their sisters and best friends just as alive. Matthew Davis plays Elle`s boyfriend, who leaves her because of his blonde appearance and reputation for being seen with such a woman. He briefly uses blasphemies. SELMA BLAIR plays his new girlfriend, a fellow law student who has decided to be mean to Elle, even though she ends up changing paths. VICTOR GARBER plays a law professor and practicing lawyer who sees Elle`s potential and gives her one of his coveted internships, but we eventually learn that he did it for sexual reasons. LUKE WILSON plays her assistant, who befriends and helps her.
JENNIFER COOLIDGE plays a manicure who also befriends Elle and uses profanity while trying to muster the courage to be more open with a delivery man who is nice to her. HOLLAND TAYLOR plays another law professor who is Elle but has her best intentions in mind. ALI LARTER plays a successful young businesswoman who is on trial for the murder of her husband and has a special reason for not giving him an alibi. She briefly uses blasphemies. MERDITH SCOTT LYNN plays another student who is a politically active lesbian (although we don`t see any related activity). OZ PERKINS plays a nerdy law student.
