Legally Blonde

I went to see Legally Blonde at the cinema when I won tickets for it on the Radio. Believe me, it wasn't my preference to see this film as it sounded stupid and unfunny but what the hell, it was free. Then this year, I got Legally Blonde and Legally Blonde 2: Red, White And Blonde as a present. The person who gave me was a bit misguided on what would be great birthday present but I forgave them.

Onto the Film Legally Blonde

It's about a girl called Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon) who gets dumped by her boyfriend, Warner (Matthew Davis) just before he goes to Harvard so he can fit in. He doesn't want to stand out for having a ditzy girlfriend like Elle. At first, she's heartbroken but then she decided that if he wants a smart girlfriend, he'll have a smart girlfriend. She decides that she's going to go to Harvard.

Surprisingly, she actually proves herself to be quite bright and willing to learn. Elle's professor Professor Callahan (Victor Garber) chose his best students for a special case. Elle, Warner and another of her fellow students Vivian (Selma Blair) get to work on the case of a woman called Brooke who's a Delta Nu (it's a sorority) like Elle, who's accused of killing her husband.

While working on the case, Elle finds herself spending a lot of time with Emmett Richmond (Luke Wilson) and love sparks starts to fly. What's happens in the court case? Who does Elle end up with? If you want to know watch the film

This came out in 2001 and was directed by Robert Luketic. It's based on a novel by Amanda Brown and then adapted to feature on the big screen by Karen McCullah Lutz.

My first thoughts after watching this film were: It could have been a good film but it wasn't and why wasn't it called Elle goes to Harvard. Much better title for it. Reese Witherspoon tends to play the same type of character over and over again. Like in Cruel intentions and Pleasantville.

The story in itself is good but it's quite stereotypical in certain aspects. They assume all blondes are dumb and that means that Elle is dumb, which you find out she's not and she's just as smart as any brunette. I know the film shows that Elle is smart but it starts out with the stereotypical dumping off the blonde by Warner as he can't go to Harvard dating a 'dumb' blonde person who turns out to be smart than him. Also it made me think so what if a blonde is dumb, there are so many brunettes that I know that are dumb people. Lets put it this way WARNING THERE ARE DUMB PEOPLE ON THIS PLANET.

The acting, I thought it was good. All the cast seemed to work well together and I think this was one of Reese's better performance in her many acting roles. I can't really remember a soundtrack but it is some time ago since I've seen the film in its totality.

The best quote in the whole film is said by the professor "If you're going to let one stupid prick ruin your life... you're not the girl I thought you were"

To sum this film up, it's a lighthearted chick flick.

The Cast
Reese Witherspoon - Elle Woods
Luke Wilson - Emmett Richmond
Selma Blair - Vivian Kensington
Matthew Davis - Warner Huntington III
Victor Garber - Professor Callahan
Jennifer Coolidge - Paulette Bonafonté
Holland Taylor - Professor Stromwell
Ali Larter - Brooke Taylor Windham
Jessica Cauffiel - Margot
Alanna Ubach - Serena
Oz Perkins - David Kidney
Linda Cardellini - Chutney Windham
Bruce Thomas - UPS Guy
Meredith Scott Lynn - Enid Wexler
Raquel Welch - Mrs. Windham Vandermark

For more information or clips of Legally Blond check out the website http://www.legallyblonde.com/

Moving on to the sequel Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde

Elle is planning to her wedding to Emmett and she wants to invite her dog's long lost mother to the wedding. She hires a private detective to track her down but unfortunately he's got bad news. Buster's (the dog) mother is a test subject in an animal testing lab and they won't release her at any cost.

So Elle decides, she's going to fight them on this by going to Washington. In Washington, she's get a bill together to make testing on animals illegal but will she get it passed?

(I know the synopsis is short but there's not much more to write about without giving it all away hehe)

My thoughts

This film is like the first film but with some differences like, a good script and new fresh ideas. This film would be okay if you haven't seen the first film but as a sequel it's a load of rubbish and very similar storyline to the previous film. Elle wants to prove something, she goes and does it and then comes the happy ending. Elle is again portraited as she was in the first film. Like she hadn't learnt that much at Harvard anyway.

Reese Wetherspoon was as good as usual in this but the supporting cast let her down a lot. None of them really stood out except for Luke Wilson. Maybe the reason for that is because to me, he's quite hot. The soundtrack isn't that really memorable to me but I distinctly remember that I heard a Lou Reed song playing in the background of one of the scene. So just from that good music choice.

I think this film is a lot weaker because instead of Amanda Brown writing the sequel. They got Eve Ahlert (who wrote Down with Love) and of course, she did the best job she could but they weren't her characters. She didn't create them and I didn't think she thought to make them grow for the sequel and that in my mind was a mistake. The film was this time directed by Charles Herman-Wurmfeld, which might explain the bad casting for the sequel.

For more information, you can go to the film's website www.legallyblonde2.com

The Cast
Reese Witherspoon .... Elle Woods
Sally Field .... Rep. Victoria Rudd
Regina King .... Grace Rossiter
Jennifer Coolidge .... Paulette
Bruce McGill .... Stanford Marks
Dana Ivey .... Congresswoman Libby Hauser
Mary Lynn Rajskub .... Reena Giuliani
Jessica Cauffiel .... Margot
Alanna Ubach .... Serena McGuire
J Barton .... Timothy McGinn
Stanley Anderson .... Michael Blaine
Bruce Thomas .... UPS Guy
Bob Newhart .... Sid Post
Luke Wilson .... Emmett Richmond
Ruth Williamson .... Madeline Kroft

EXTRAS

Legally Blonde (Disc 1)
Audio commentary with director Robert Luketic, Reese Witherspoon and producer Marc Platt.
8 deleted scenes with director's introduction.
'The Hair That Ate Hollywood' featurette. Music video 'Perfect Day' by Hoku.
Legally Blonde soundtrack advertising spot.
Original theatrical trailer. Trivia track.

Legally Blonde 2: Red, White And Blonde (Disc 2)
Five featurettes: Blonde Ambition: Production, Pretty in Pink: Design and Art, Stars and Stripes? Never!:
Costumes, Hair Apparent: Hair and Make-Up,
Elle's Anthem: Music and Score.
Audio commentary with Jennifer Coolidge, Alanna Ubach and Jessica Cauffiel.
Outtakes.
Deleted scenes.
Gag reel.
'We Can' by LeAnn Rimes: music video followed by soundtrack spot.
Welcome to Delta Nu: interactive quiz.
Feature length trivia track.
Photo gallery.
Theatrical trailer.

Overall, I think the first film is much better than the sequel and it's not worth buying the double disc DVD.

If you really want to see them, I suggest you rent it but if you really want to buy it, it's on Amazon for £14.79 or you can buy it used for £8.15. Or you could buy them both separate, which I recommend as the double disc doesn't seem any different to the single disc DVDs and it's cheaper if you buy them separate.

Legally Blonde is £4.97 or used £3.35 and Legally Blonde 2 is £4.97 or used £2.29 and you still get all the extras on them. Also there's the soundtracks for both films which you can buy for £11.99 and/or £3.95 used only