Legally Blonde (2001)

Elle Woods, a fashionable sorority queen is dumped by her boyfriend. She decides to follow him to law school, while she is there she figures out that there is more to her than just looks.

Director:

Robert Luketic

Writers:

Amanda Brown (novel), Karen McCullah (screenplay)

Stars:

Reese Witherspoon, Luke Wilson, Selma Blair

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 6 wins & 10 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.

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Plot Keywords:

blonde | law | sorority | harvard | law school | 

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Taglines:

Meet Elle Woods. She's a lawyer with a heart of gold...and a mane to match!

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 July 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Legally Blonde

Filming Locations:

Villa del Sol d'Oro, 675 W Highland Ave, Sierra Madre California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$18,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$20,377,426, 15 July 2001, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$96,520,674

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$141,774,679

Company Credits

Production Co:

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

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

DTS-Stereo DTS SDDS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

While at Stanford, source book author Amanda Brown wrote letters back home, regarding her inability to fit in with her classmates. Later she made a manuscript based on those letters and sent it to an agent, who was drawn to it because it was the only manuscript submitted written on pink paper--referenced in the film through Elle Woods scented pink résumés.

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Goofs

When Elle is talking to the woman in the salon about becoming a law student her hair goes from being tucked behind her right ear to hanging loose between shots.

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Quotes

Elle: Because I'm not a Vanderbilt, suddenly I'm white trash? I grew up in Bel Air, Warner. Across the street from Aaron Spelling. I think most people would agree that's a lot better than some stinky old Vanderbilt.

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Alternate Versions

There are eight deleted scenes which are:

• "After the Break-Up" - after the break up of Elle and Warner, Elle stumbles down the corridor. Her two friends are shocked, expecting to find a ring on her finger. (Keep)
• "Rollerblading" - a short scene that was part of Elle's admissions video sequence.
• "The Betting Pool" - Vivian and others place a betting pool at the party to see how long Elle would last at Harvard. This comes in the film after Elle storms out of the party after talking to Warner. (Keep)
• "Elle's Revenge" - Extended sequence where she exacts her revenge on Aaron, one of the people betting against her. He would eventually go on to lose all his money, though. Even Elle's bullies get a chuckle out of it. (Keep)
• "Depositions" - sequence where they interview the witnesses, one at a time with all lawyers present. They make Chutney sound so dumb in this scene (but she's always dumb), Enrique is exaggerating the story of after incident, sounding like some character off a soap opera.
• "Delta Nu Sister" - this makes sense when you watch it, a quick scene of Elle going to see Brooke in jail, hoping to get her alibi. She identifies herself to the police officer as Brooke's sister, Delta Nu. (Keep)
• "Professor Callahan & Emmett" - little quick scene where Emmett confronts Professor Callahan after he comes on to her. (Keep)
• "Mrs. Windham Vandermark" - quick cameo scene near the end of the film where Mrs. Windham tells Elle she was once a blonde, and that her daughter needs a good lawyer.

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Connections

References There's Something About Mary (1998)

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Soundtracks

Watch Me Shine
Written by Dino Esposito
Performed by Joanna Pacitti
Produced by Dino Esposito
Under license from A&M Records

User Reviews

Ditzy blonde makes good!

As a middle-aged bloke, a ditzy, frothy blonde who dresses in designer pink and who has as a pet a Chihuahua, who also dressed in pink would have me running for the hills, screaming and violently pulling out my own fingernails.

Unless it's Reese Witherspoon, for whom I do have a soft spot for especially when she's exactly like Miss Elle Woods here. The story itself is really rather far-fetched but even this aspect is sort of sorted by some generous bending of unwritten rules and smart legal jargon.

Legally Blonde will always work better for me, when Miss Woods is gaily arranging sorority parties and being just ridiculously OTT about fashion choices and tartly responding when others try and make her look ridiculous. This comic timing is perfectly suited to the bubbly and vibrant Witherspoon and she remains a tonic throughout.

The court case that she falls into defending might be essential to the story of how she gets her legal qualifications and to prove all her doubters totally wrong, but for me, this plays second fiddle to the comedy I mention. The romance angle, an essential premise, as at the start, her boyfriend Warner, who she was absolutely sure was going to propose to her, dumps her, essentially because she's a 'dumb' blonde.

He's off to Harvard and so, naturally, Elle scrapes through the preliminaries with the skimpiest of appropriate qualifications (majoring in obscure fashion, for example) so that he could no longer hold that reason against her. He, though, is already dating the surly Selma Blair.

I've probably seen Legally... three times now. The sequel/s don't command any great affection for me but this original is one that is both a great comedy and has a real feel-good factor too, without resorting to the gross-out and toilet humour that's unfortunately seen as an essential ingredient in today's US comedies.