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Laramie Movie Scope:
Legally Blonde

"Clueless" goes to Harvard

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by Robert Roten, Film Critic
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July 17, 2001 -- "Legally Blonde" is one of those rare modern comedies that does not rely on gross-out humor or slapstick for its laughs. The humor comes from its characters, mainly the unlikely Harvard Law School student Elle Woods (played brilliantly by Reese Witherspoon of "Election").

Woods appears on the surface to be a bubble-headed blonde, but we learn early on in the movie that her valley girl front is just an affectation. She's got a lot of horsepower under her high-fashion pink hat. She had her life all planned out. She was going to marry the rich Warner Huntington III (Matthew Davis of "Pearl Harbor"), but he dumps her for a richer girl. Then she hits on a plan to go to Harvard Law School to get her boyfriend back.

Woods' entrance application video to Harvard is one of the many funny gags in the film. Woods finds out life is tough at Harvard, as the first fashion major accepted at the school, and she gets no respect from the students or professors. Then she decides to get serious. The moral of the story? With lots of brainpower and a good sense of fashion, you can overcome many obstacles. She ends up with an entirely different outlook on life. She realizes she doesn't need to marry a rich man. She can make a good living with her own brainpower, and help others in the process.

Witherspoon's flawless performance is reminiscent of Alicia Silverstone's great performance in "Clueless," a similar kind of pretty duckling story. Witherspoon is ably backed up by good performances by Luke Wilson of "Charlie's Angels," who plays Emmett, Selma Blair of "Down to You," who plays Vivian Kensington, Victor Garber of "Titanic," who plays professor Callahan, Holland Taylor of "The Practice" TV show, who plays professor Stromwell and Jennifer Coolidge, who plays a manicurist who befriends Woods.

The screenplay, by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith succeeds because the story is character-driven. During those times when the movie stoops to sight gags (although the costumes, designed by Sophie Carbonell are effective), slapstick humor and out-of-character insult humor, it often comes up short. The story also takes a detour into sentimentality at times, and that doesn't really work, either. Most of the time, however, the story is light, funny, sweet, with plenty of good one-liners. Witherspoon's flawless performance is, more than anything else, what carries the day. Oh yeah, and there is a cute little dog named "Bruiser" that helps, too. This film rates a B.

Click here for links to places to buy this movie in video and/or DVD format, the soundtrack, books, even used videos, games and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

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Copyright © 2001 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.
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Robert Roten can be reached via e-mail at my last name at lariat dot org. [Mailer button: image of letter and envelope]

(If you e-mail me with a question about this or any other movie or review, please mention the name of the movie you are asking the question about, otherwise I may have no way of knowing which film you are referring to)