27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Don't let looks deceive you!!!!, July 14, 2001
Let me begin by saying I am not normally a fan of the "Clueless" type character, but this is far from what I expected going into this movie. Reese Witherspoon's character "Elle" is a sweet, funny, smart and completely likeable character and has you caring for her and rooting for her to win and prove everyone wrong. After being dumped by her boyfriend Warner because he thought she wasn't smart enough for a future lawyer or senator, she follows him to Harvard determined to win him back. While she struggles with fitting in, she slowly wins over several of her classmates, and proves she is no dumb blonde. This movie is fun, and well worth seeing. I was skeptical about this movie, but don't let the trailer and bad critic reviews turn you off of this bright and funny film.
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Maybe It's Me., August 7, 2006
I've been reviewing items for Amazon for a little over a year and a half, now. One of the things that I still don't quite understand is how Amazon picks its "Spotlight Reviews."
Sometimes those Reviews are great. But, sometimes...
Okay. Here are excerpts from the current Spotlight Reviews for this film (though they may be different by the time you read this):
"I was disappointed by this film. I was hoping it was going to be a satire, a la 'Clueless'. When I realized in the first 15 minutes or so that it was not, then I at least hoped it would be funny in any kind of way (e.g. dumb funny). Well, it didn't even do that.[...]" -- First Spotlight Review
"As a blonde myself, I really should have been offended by this feature-length blonde joke, but hey, this flick is first-rate fluff.[...]The script is surprisingly smart for fluff and is a huge reason for the success of this extended blonde joke. For mindless entertainment, you can't beat this film. 'Legally Blonde' is one of those guilty pleasures you might hate to admit having. Remember, you can always watch it in the privacy of your own home[...]." -- Second Spotlight Review (from a "Top 100 Reviewer" no less)
Uh...
Maybe it's me.
But I don't think that either of these two reviewers get this film. Legally Blonde is not a movie trying to make fun of blondes. What would even be the point of that? Nor is it a "dumb comedy," nor is it trying to be. It is not an extended blonde joke. It is not mindless. Nor is, as the second above reviewer mentioned in her write-up, the main character (Elle) mindless.
In fact, the point of the film is that she has a mind. The point is that, despite being blonde and pretty, she still has other skills and abilities (and an incredible amount of compassion and kindness) that people unfairly overlook or dismiss. This is a movie with a heart, a mind, and, my friends, a message. The message isn't devastatingly clever or anything like that, but it's a good, solid one, nonetheless. And, it appears to have been too subtle for the reviewers quoted above.
Usually, this kind of movie is about a nerd or other outcast who falls in love with a beauty and gets unfairly discriminated against by the popular kids on account of his appearance, etc. This is the exact same film, except the roles are reversed. In this movie, the beautiful, pampered prima-donna is trying her darndest to fit in with the smart kids (the nerds) but is constantly rejected on the basis of the same sorts of shallow, prejudicial judgements from which they typically suffer. When she competes for an internship, everyone assumes that she won't have the brains to pull it off. When she gets that internship based on her skills, people assume that she must have slept her way to the top. Along the way, she is constantly humiliated and made fun of, on a large part based on the color of her hair and the way she dresses. We're not supposed to be laughing at her, people; we're supposed to be sympathizing with her (unless, like the cruel "nerds" she encounters, we're too tied up in people's looks).
Whether or not you're particularly receptive to it, this movie is trying to say that we all suffer from rejection, ostracization and prejudice--even the pretty and popular.
Even though the Spotlight Reviews here on Amazon might not reflect the fact, this is not a "mindless extended blonde-joke," nor is it a failed Clueless; this is a story about an outsider fighting for love and struggling to fit in, and yes, she happens to be blonde and pretty and wear lots of pink. To understand it, I guess, requires at least as much heart as the film was made with.
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34 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Preposterous but Oh So Blonde, May 28, 2004
As a blonde myself, I really should have been offended by this feature-length blonde joke, but hey, this flick is first-rate fluff. Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon) is a self-absorbed sorority president and fashion major who expects to marry her college sweetheart Warner (Matthew Davis). When Warner dumps her because she isn't the perfect accompaniment to his expected Harvard Law degree (too much Marilyn Monroe and not enough Jackie Kennedy), her whole world crashes around her until the solution hits her: Why doesn't she become the woman Warner wants by following him to Harvard Law School? To Elle, who has a specialty in The History of Polka Dots, this seems like a no-brainer, and since she doesn't seem to know how to use her brain, the hilarity begins. She manages to get into Harvard through a brazen video, great LSAT's (for which she actually studied), and by stunning every last member of the admissions committee.
Who cares about realism when you've got a clueless blonde mixing with over-achieving, nerdy law students? The always popular Elle becomes the class outcast, with a tongue-tied, good-hearted manicurist (played memorably by Jennifer Coolidge) as her only friend. Director Luketic deserves enormous credit for keeping Elle's core personality intact despite the intellectual transformation; the sight of her colorful iMac in the sea of charcoal gray laptops is pitch-perfect as a symbol of her increasing seriousness but unwillingness to give into the nerd culture. In her sorority house, Elle is but one of many blondes. At Harvard, she is an individualist.
This film is completely preposterous and doesn't care - that's the fun of it. Although the eventual triumph of Elle is predictable, how she gets there is not, making this film enjoyable every step of the way. The script is surprisingly smart for fluff and is a huge reason for the success of this extended blonde joke.
For mindless entertainment, you can't beat this film. "Legally Blonde" is one of those guilty pleasures you might hate to admit having. Remember, you can always watch it in the privacy of your own home where no one but your closest relatives can hear you laugh at the antics of Elle Woods.
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