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It has been suggested that Elle Woods be merged into this article or section. (Discuss) |
This is the article about the 2001 film. For the 2007 stage musical, see Legally Blonde (musical); for the 2003 sequel, see Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde; for the 2008 threequel, see Legally Blondes
| Legally Blonde | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Robert Luketic |
| Produced by | Marc Platt |
| Written by | Amanda Brown Karen McCullah Lutz Kirsten Smith (screenplay) |
| Starring | Reese Witherspoon Luke Wilson Ali Larter Selma Blair Matthew Davis Victor Garber Jennifer Coolidge |
| Music by | Rolfe Kent |
| Cinematography | Anthony B. Richmond |
| Editing by | Anita Brandt-Burgoyne Garth Craven |
| Distributed by | MGM |
| Release date(s) | July 13, 2001 |
| Running time | 96 min. |
| Country | 
|
| Language | English |
| Budget | $18 million |
| Gross revenue | $141,774,679 |
| Followed by | Red, White & Blonde Legally Blondes |
| Official website | |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Legally Blonde is a 2001 comedy film starring Reese Witherspoon, produced by Marc E. Platt for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios and directed by Robert Luketic. It is based on the 2001 novel of the same name by Amanda Brown.
The film, which is seen by many to be part of the Girl Power movement of the late 1990s and early 2000s, is the fictional story of a valley girl\'s quest to be regarded seriously at Harvard Law School, and to take back her boyfriend.
The film was a Golden Globe Award nominee for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, and Witherspoon\'s performance also received a nomination.Allen, Jamie. "Globes: \'Beautiful,\' \'Moulin\' golden", CNN, 2001-12-20. Retrieved on 2006-12-13. It is number 29 on Bravo\'s "100 Funniest Movies".
The movie\'s box office success spawned a 2003 sequel, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde and a upcoming 2008 direct-to-DVD threequel, Legally Blondes. Additionally, Legally Blonde: The Musical premiered on January 23, 2007 in San Francisco and opened in New York City at the Palace Theatre on Broadway on April 29, 2007.
Taglines:
This summer, go blonde!
Meet Elle Woods. She\'s a lawyer with a heart of gold...and a mane to match.
Boldly going where no blonde has gone.
Contents |
Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon) is the typical pampered "Valley Girl" (however she grew up in Bel-Air, across the street from Aaron Spelling) and president of her sorority, Delta Nu, at the fictional CULA, the California University of Los Angeles (an anagrammed spoof of the UCLA). Nearing graduation, Elle expects her Harvard Law School-bound boyfriend, Warner Huntington III (Matthew Davis), to propose, but he instead breaks up with her, saying that her frivolous lifestyle would hinder his political future. Elle later finds out that Warner\'s brother, Putnam Bowes Huntington III, is marrying Layne Walker Vanderbilt. Crushed, Elle decides she must revamp her image by attending Harvard Law and thereby winning back Warner. With an exceptional LSAT score (179) and an unusual application video of her in a bikini, she wins the approval of the admissions board.
At Harvard, Elle is initially met with hostility and skepticism of her abilities, and she finds Warner is already engaged to fellow law student Vivian Kensington (Selma Blair). Vivian reluctantly invites Elle to a formal gathering, but tells her it is a costume party to humiliate her. Though she shows up dressed as a Playboy bunny, Elle is unfazed. She confronts Warner and finds that his perception of her is unaffected by her accomplishments. Spurred by his dismissive remarks, Elle immerses herself in her studies and becomes a top student in her class. She stills finds it hard to be taken seriously, although Emmett Richmond (Luke Wilson), the trial assistant of Callahan (Victor Garber), one of Elle\'s professors, is friendly to her and recognizes her potential.
Along with Warner and Vivian, Elle is hired as an intern at Callahan\'s firm. They are assigned the case of defending a young woman, Brooke Taylor Windham (Ali Larter), accused of the murder of her older, wealthy husband. Windham is coincidentally a former member of Elle\'s sorority and a famous fitness instructor, facts that convince Elle of her innocence. Her stepdaughter and the household\'s "cabana boy" Enrique Salvatore (Greg Serano) attest to finding Windham standing over her husband\'s dead body.
After Windham refuses Callahan\'s request for an alibi, Elle visits her in jail where she confides that she was having liposuction at the time of her husband\'s death. Worried that this would destroy her reputation as a fitness instructor, she asks that Elle keep the alibi secret. Elle complies despite pressure from Callahan.
Vivian was extremely impressed that Elle kept Brook Windham\'s alibi, and the two start to become friends.
To further discredit Windham, Salvatore testifies that he and Windham had been having an affair. Elle reasons that Salvatore is actually gay, given that he is able to correctly identify her shoes as "last season Prada," something a straight man can\'t identify. Although Callahan dismisses her claim as speculative and frivolous, Emmett takes the initiative and tricks Salvatore into admitting this on the stand by asking what Salvatore\'s boyfriend name is.
Callahan has a private discussion with Elle after the session. To her disgust, he reveals he finds her attractive and begins to caress her thigh. Elle angrily storms out and is met by Vivian, who witnessed Callahan touching Elle\'s leg and tells her she should sleep with the jury too so they can win the case. Convinced that she will never be taken seriously, Elle decides to quit and return to California. However, after encouragement from one of her female professors and with Emmett\'s support, she decides to stay. Emmett informs Windham of Callahan\'s transgression, and she decides to fire Callahan and replace him with Elle.
Since Elle is not a lawyer yet, she is supervised by Emmett. During her cross-examination, the victim\'s daughter, Chutney Windham (Linda Cardellini), claims to have been taking a shower at the time of the murder, but Elle argues that having had her hair permed that day, a shower would have deactivated the ammonium thioglycolate and ruined her curls. Badgered by Elle\'s aggressive questioning, the daughter finally breaks down in tears and confesses to accidentally shooting her father, believing he was her stepmother, whom she resented for being the same age as she.
The end of the film shows Elle graduating two years later at the top of her class with an offer to work at a prestigious Boston law firm. She is the class-elected speaker and relates what she learned about law and life over the past three years. Emmett has since quit Callahan\'s firm to start his own practice, and he plans to propose to Elle that night. On the other hand, Warner gets no job offers or internships, loses Vivian (who becomes Elle\'s best friend), and graduates without honors.
The film was met with varied reception from critics, earning "fresh rating" of 67% positive ratings in the Rotten Tomatoes compilation of 130 reviews. Most reviews lauded Reese Witherspoon\'s lead performance even if they denigrated the overall merit of the film.Legally Blonde (2001). Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on 2006-12-12. Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 59 out of 100, based on 31 reviews.Legally Blonde: Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2008-02-21.
The movie was an unexpected hit, grossing over US$20 million in its opening weekend and ending its run with over US$96 million in the U.S. and more than US$141 million worldwide. It made Witherspoon an A-list actress and one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood (she would be paid US$15 million to star in the sequel). After this movie, Witherspoon had a string of hit movies including the sequel Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde, Sweet Home Alabama and Walk the Line, which landed her an Oscar for Best Actress for playing June Carter.
In 2007, a musical adaption premiered on Broadway, starring Laura Bell Bundy as Elle, Christian Borle as Emmett, Orfeh as Paulette, Nikki Snelson as Brooke, Richard H. Blake as Warner, Kate Shindle as Vivienne, and Michael Rupert as Callahan. Other cast members included Andy Karl, Leslie Kritzer, Annaleigh Ashford, DeQuina Moore, and Natalie Joy Johnson. The show, Bundy, Borle, and Orfeh were all nominated for Tony Awards.
A musical based on the movie Legally Blonde has been released.
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