By: debbie lynn elias
Written by Kirsten Smith and Karen McCullah Lutz (“10 Things I Hate About You”) and directed by Robert Luketic in his first major screen outing, “Legally Blonde” is the “fictional” tale of Elle Woods, Delta Nu sorority girl at “fictional” California University at Los Angeles, home to the privileged and beautiful. Charming and eternally effervescent as the way cool, way blonde, Bel Air bubblehead who “lives across the street from Aaron Spelling,” Reese Witherspoon gives an enchanting performance as Elle.
With a major in fashion, Elle maintains her perfect 4.0 grade point average despite such heavy hitter classes such as “The History of Polka Dots,” not to mention the never ending needs of her sorority sisters for constant counseling on hair care, grooming, make-up, fashion and accessorizing. Certain that the man of her dreams, the well-to-do Warner Huntington III played by Matthew Davis, is going to propose to her (after all, why else would one go to college but to find a husband), Elle prepares for the big night with all the pomp and preparation generally reserved for a prom or in Elle’s case, a debutante ball. Unfortunately, as Warner plans to become a senator by the time he’s 30, he dumps Elle, explaining his decision with, “I need to marry a Jackie, not a Marilyn.”
Determined to reclaim her man, Elle decides to follow him to Harvard Law School and dazzle him with her intellect, despite her martini-drinking father’s belief that law school is only for “boring, ugly and serious” people. With an admissions video directed by Coppola, the staid and stoic Harvard admissions committee accepts Elle to Harvard on the grounds of “diversity.” Arriving in her trademark cloud of pink, Elle and her always fashionable Chihuahua, Bruiser, stick out like sore thumbs in the mundane preppie community.
Snubbed and ridiculed by fellow classmates, chastised by Professor Stromwell on day one due to lack of preparation (“I didn’t know we had homework”) and all hopes for marriage dashed when Warner announces he’s engaged to fellow preppie Vivian Kensington (Selma Blair), Elle is ready to call it quits. However, when she goes in search of much needed comfort and therapy in the form of a manicure and pedicure, her spirit is restored by manicurist-turned- confidante, Paulette, comically played by Jennifer Coolidge, who pushes Elle back into the ring with new determination. Adding to Elle’s reinvigorated self-confidence is Emmett Richmond, played by Tom Cruise look-alike, Luke Wilson, who always exudes quiet handsomeness and smoldering sex appeal. Emmett, an associate attorney for criminal defense attorney and law professor Callahan, and obviously very smitten with Elle, subtlely encourages her at every turn and prods her to vie for one of the internships offered by Callahan’s law firm.
Due to the intricacies and demands of defending fitness guru and former Delta Nu, Brooke Taylor Windham (played by Ali Larter) who is accused of murdering her much older and very rich husband, Callahan brings in several students to intern on the case, one of which is our girl Elle. Relying on her Delta Nu sisterhood, as well as her extraordinary grooming and fashion talents, Elle believes in Brooke’s innocence and sets out to prove same. With an alibi that can’t be disclosed, and a defense based on pool boys in thongs, Prada shoes and perms, comedy abounds. All that’s missing in the climactic courtroom scene is Johnny Cochran at the counsel table!
Arguably one of the best across-the-board cast films this year, strong performances are turned in by all. Witherspoon’s energetic performance is delightful. The incomparable Holland Taylor as Professor Stromwell, brings the same realism, believability and no-nonsense approach to the classroom as she does to her courtroom as Judge Roberta Kittleston on “The Practice.” An absolute joy to watch! Victor Garber, recently seen as Sid Luft in “The Judy Garland Story” and probably best known as Titanic architect, Thomas Andrews, gives another impressively dimensional performance as Professor Callahan. Luke Wilson adds another notch to his belt, further establishing himself as a leading man and Selma Blair, as Warner’s fiancé, Vivian, gives new meaning to the term “contemptuous bitch.” And of course, no one can play a haughty socialite like Raquel Welch who is just splendid here as Mrs. Windham Vandermark.
Likable. Enjoyable. Funny. Entertaining. You’ll smile. You’ll laugh. You’ll even root for the blonde. And yes, it is acceptable to put your resume on pink paper.
