‘Legally Blonde’

Reese Witherspoon takes on Harvard Law and sexual stereotypes in this comedy.   [PG-13]

By: Kam Williams
   Sometimes, a director will put a new spin on a clichéd formula, treating the audience to a welcome break from a predictable plot and hackneyed stereotypes. In the case of Legally Blonde, first-time director Robert Luketic sets up an intriguing premise, which first promises to turn the tables on the typical teen makeover movie before capitulating infuriatingly to the old expectations of that shopworn genre.

Reese Witherspoon stars as a dumped blonde-turned-law student in the teen makeover comedy Legally Blonde.

   In most makeover movies, a girl has her eye on some "boy most likely" who won’t give her the time of day. Usually, she attracts him only after undergoing a combination of cosmetic changes, including a tighter, more revealing wardrobe, a loosening of the hair, a goodbye to eyeglasses and a more congenial, anything-goes attitude.
   I have long objected to this outdated, cinematic archetype because it sends the wrong message to dating-age girls, namely, that they can only find fulfillment by uncritically adapting themselves to the needs of men.
   Meanwhile, teen-age boys begin getting a corresponding suggestion to view females as objects to be judged on the basis of appearance alone. For this reason, Legally Blonde appears almost feminist at first blush. Here’s the set-up: A popular college coed, who has previously gotten by on her looks, is left reeling from her boyfriend’s revelation that he’s dumping her because she’s not brainy enough and too blond for him. He’s headed for Harvard Law School with plans for a career in politics where, as he explains it, "I need a Jackie, not a Marilyn."

Reese Witherspoon plays a rejected blonde beauty who bones up for Harvard Law School to woo back her man.

   The film takes off when the rejected beauty, after bingeing on chocolate, decides to make herself over as an intellectual to impress her man. She bones up for the Harvard Law School admission test, but what looks like a breath of thematic fresh air gets fouled pretty fast as the story starts to trade in familiar man-pleasing rituals.
   For instance, instead of impressing the acceptance committee with her academic qualifications, she sends them a pink, scented résumé and a videotape of herself in a bikini. Instead of having the character exhibit the confidence and competence to compete with men head-to-head, the plot has her immediately relying, once again, on her looks.
   The movie stars the nothingfaced Reese Witherspoon, whom you may or may not remember acting opposite Adam Sandler in Little Nicky. As Elle, the nondescript Witherspoon lacks the charisma to pull off a role that is not merely preposterous, but also offensive. Elle wears a Playboy-style bunny outfit to a law-school gathering and then complains, "All that people see when they look at me is blond hair and big boobs." Duh!
   Matthew Davis co-stars as Warner Huntington III, Elle’s effete ex. Selma Blair appears as Vivian Kensington, the understated, hence more appropriate, brunette Warner is already engaged to by the time Elle arrives at Harvard. Luke Wilson, who hunked it up in Charlie’s Angels, hunks it up s’more as Emmett Richmond, an understanding Harvard grad who gives a grieving Elle a shoulder to lean on. Raquel Welch busts out of her mothballs, back for a quickie cameo in a throwaway role.
   Director Robert Luketic makes a forgettable debut with Legally Blonde. Everything about the production feels stale, as if lifted from other films: the makeover story line; the "drop the chalupa" chihuahua who steals half the scenes; the "spit take." Any time a movie has to resort to a drink-spewing spit take for a laugh, it tells me the writer has long since run out of ideas. Verdict: Guilty of passing bad jokes.
Rated PG-13. Contains off-color language, provocative bump-and-grind seduction, slapstick antics and adult subject matter.