Danielle Solzman
The Legally Blonde Collection–starring Reese Witherspoon–arrives on Blu-ray in a two-disc set containing both new and classic bonus features.
Legally Blonde
Reese Witherspoon is the single-best thing about Legally Blonde, a comedy that has no business being as fun and entertaining as it is.
After being dumped by boyfriend Warner Huntington III (Matthew Davis), Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon) gets the idea to enroll in law school. Woods decides to get her revenge by applying to the prestigious Harvard Law School. While this was being done as revenge at the time, Elle’s certainly goes on a different path. Upon arriving at Harvard, Elle learns that Warner is engaged to marry Vivian Kensington (Selma Blair). Elle quickly learns to adapt to this new environment. If she’s going to succeed here, she’ll certainly have to put in the work.
Professors Stromwell (Holland Taylor) and Callahan (Victor Garber) also serve as two meaningful influences on Woods. Meanwhile, Elle meets Emmett (Luke Wilson). If you can believe it, he’s an addition to the film! Elle meets Paulette (Jennifer Coolidge) at the salon. Cue the bend-and-snap and the UPS guy (Buce Thomas)!
Elle joins other law students aiding Callahan in defense of Brooke Taylor Windham (Ali Larter). We see how much Elle grows as a law student but also see how much of a first-class sleaze ball that Callahan is. I was rather surprised by this. When viewed years later, this adds an even more interesting but new perspective. Moreover, the chemistry between Elle and Emmett is absolutely perfect. To think that Amanda Brown never actually wrote him into her book! My cap’s off to screenwriters Karen McCullah and Kristen Smith for adding Emmett into the film. Emmett serves two roles in the film: mentor to Elle and a rival to Warner.
Above all, there’s so much fun watching Witherspoon act in this role. She’s talented and certainly having a lot of fun in the role. Elle Woods could have been filling the dumb blonde trope but there’s so much meat to the role. She’s not just that dumb blonde and we’re all the better for it. After all, it’s not like any of us are expecting a John Grisham thriller. Lo and behold, we’re currently approaching the 20th anniversary of Legally Blonde in two more years!
DIRECTOR: Robert Luketic
SCREENWRITERS: Karen McCullah Lutz and Kristen Smith
CAST: Reese Witherspoon, Luke Wilson, Selma Blair, Matthew Davis, Victor Garber, Jennifer Coolidge, Holland Taylor, Ali Larter, Jessica Cauffiel, Alanna Ubach, Oz Perkins, Linda Cardellini, Bruce Thomas, Meredith Scott Lynn, and Raquel Welch
Legally Blonde 2
Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde moves the setting from Harvard to the nation’s capital. While ambitious, the change in setting doesn’t do much.
This film starts out with the craziest of crazy ideas: a biological search for Bruiser’s parents. We’ve heard of searches for parents of actual humans but dogs?!? Naturally, the sequel focuses on animal testing. Enter Congresswoman Victoria Rudd (Sally Field) and her chief of staff, Grace Rossiter (Regina King). When Elle does file Bruiser’s Bill in Congress, she has this way of guilting members of Congress because of animal abuse. There is honestly nothing sadder than watching them cry. It’s sad but so funny!
The sequel certainly doesn’t quite match the fun of its predecessor. It’s unfortunate because the sequel wastes so many opportunities for a talented cast. Don’t get me wrong because Reese Witherspoon can only do so much to lift up the film. Much of the sequel’s problems are probably due to the script than anything else.
DIRECTOR: Charles Herman-Wurmfeld
SCREENWRITERS: Kate Kondelle
CAST: Reese Witherspoon, Sally Field, Regina King, Jennifer Coolidge, Bruce McGill, with Bob Newhart and Luke Wilson
Bonus Features
- NEW 4K Scan Of The Original Legally Blonde Negative
- NEW Interview With Actress Jessica Caulfiel
- Audio Commentaries
- Featurettes
- Deleted Scenes
- Gag Reel
- Music Videos
- Theatrical Trailers
