Legally Blonde (2001)

When a blonde sorority queen is dumped by her boyfriend, she decides to follow him to law school to get him back and, once there, learns she has more legal savvy than she ever imagined.

Director:

Robert Luketic

Writers:

Amanda Brown (novel), Karen McCullah Lutz (screenplay),

Stars:

Reese Witherspoon, Luke Wilson, Selma Blair

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 6 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Reese Witherspoon	...	Elle Woods
Luke Wilson	...	Emmett
Selma Blair	...	Vivian Kensington
Matthew Davis	...	Warner
Victor Garber	...	Professor Callahan
Jennifer Coolidge	...	Paulette
Holland Taylor	...	Professor Stromwell
Ali Larter	...	Brooke Taylor Windham
Jessica Cauffiel	...	Margot
Alanna Ubach	...	Serena
Oz Perkins	...	Dorky David Kidney
Linda Cardellini	...	Chutney
Bruce Thomas	...	UPS Guy
Meredith Scott Lynn	...	Enid
Raquel Welch	...	Mrs. Windham Vandermark

Storyline

Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon) has it all. She's the president of her sorority, a Hawaiian Tropic girl, Miss June in her campus calendar, and, above all, a natural blonde. She dates the cutest fraternity boy on campus and wants nothing more than to be Mrs. Warner Huntington III. But, there's just one thing stopping Warner (Matthew Davis) from popping the question: Elle is too blonde. Growing up across the street from Aaron Spelling might mean something in LA, but nothing to Warner's East-Coast blue blood family. So, when Warner packs up for Harvard Law and reunites with an old sweetheart from prep school, Elle rallies all her resources and gets into Harvard, determined to win him back. But law school is a far cry from the comforts of her poolside and the mall. Elle must wage the battle of her life, for her guy, for herself and for all the blondes who suffer endless indignities everyday.

---

Plot Keywords:

blonde | law | law school | harvard | sorority | 

---

Taglines:

This summer go blonde!

---

Genres:

Comedy | Romance

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for language and sexual references

Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 July 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cutie Blonde

Filming Locations:

All Saint's Episcopal Church - 132 N. Euclid Avenue, Pasadena, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$18,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$181,984 (Belgium) (21 December 2001)

Gross:

$953,084 (France) (21 December 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Marc Platt Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

DTS-Stereo DTS SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

There is a quick shot of a TV truck from WAJB, Channel 3 in Boston. This fictional channel is a reference to the author of the novel on which the script is based, Amanda Brown.

---

Goofs

Elle's hair is alternately smooth/wispy between shots when she talks to Vivian in her dorm room.

---

Quotes

Elle's Mother: Honey, you were First Runner-Up at the "Miss Hawaiian Tropics" contest. Why are you going to throw that all away?
Elle: Going to Harvard is the only way I'm going to get the love of my life back.
Elle's Father: Oh, sweetheart, you don't need law school. Law school is for people who are boring and ugly and serious. And you, button, are none of those things.

---

Connections

Featured in Out of Time (2003)

---

Soundtracks

"Baby, Come on Over"
Written by Anders Bagge, Arnthor Birgisson and Samantha Mumba
Performed by Samantha Mumba
Courtesy of Universal International Music, B.V.
By Arrangement with A&M Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Clueless Goes to Harvard

In `Legally Blonde,' – which could well be re-titled `Clueless Goes to Harvard' - the delightful Reese Witherspoon stars as a ditzy, fashion-obsessed airhead who winds up (through plot complications too elaborate to go through) taking that Ivy League law school by storm. Needless to say, there is not a single believable moment in the film, but that is generally the case with most fish-out-of-water scenarios anyway. What `Legally Blonde' does have is a warm spirit, a bubbly demeanor and a breezy charm that reflect to a tee the personality of its main character.

Although the film does not exhibit the same level of comic genius we found in `Clueless,' Witherspoon's letter-perfect rendition of the bubblehead stereotype earns the film a great deal of audience goodwill, a factor that helps us to get over some of the movie's flatter moments. For indeed, throughout the course of this tale, we do hit a number of arid stretches where we feel that we should be laughing an awful lot more than we are. In fact, `Legally Blonde' occasionally feels more like a concept in search of a movie than a full-fledged work in its own right. But, just as you are about to give up on it, the filmmakers hit upon a hilarious concept, sight gag or line of dialogue, which help to set the movie back on track.

Clearly, Witherspoon is the big selling point of this film. As an actress, she exudes such an air of intelligence, confidence and compassionate goodwill that she invests even her dumb blonde character with those seemingly paradoxical traits. `Legally Blonde' isn't always at the top of its form, but Witherspoon wins the case for the film hands down anyway.