Legally Blonde (2001)

Directed by Robert Luketic. Starring Reese Witherspoon, Matthew Davis, Luke Wilson, Selma Blair, Victor Garber, Jennifer Coolidge, Holland Taylor, Oz Perkins, Jessica Cauffiel, Alanna Ubach, Bruce Thomas, Meredith Scott Lynn. [PG-13]

Shallow, perky blonde sorority girl Elle Woods (Witherspoon) is devastated when the boy (Davis) around whom she’s planned her future dumps her before going to Harvard Law School. Determined to win him back, she buckles down and commits to getting accepted to the same school and, against all reason and reality, she is. Sometimes cute and amusing, but more frequently hokey and always predictable, this comedy-fantasy takes itself a little too seriously when it goes for inspirational messaging toward the end, but it’s not bad when just trying to be a fluffy trifle. Reese’s bubbliness and stealthy smarts make Elle a likable character—and the actress is nothing short of dedicated in the role—but that same buried intelligence rarely shows up in Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith’s screenplay (based on a book by Amanda Brown), playing into more stereotypes than it subverts, and rarely finding the observant and satirical edges of Clueless, a movie which, if you cross it with My Cousin Vinny, is basically the exact blueprint of this flick. Inspired a theatrical sequel, a stage musical, and a straight-to-DVD spin-off.

51/100