Believing in yourself NEVER goes out of style
Rating: 3/10
Running Time: 96 minutes
UK Certificate: 12
On DVD
Watching 'Legally Blonde' is almost like falling into a big pink void where fluffy biros and heart-shaped notebooks have for some reason become humorous.
It stars Reese Witherspoon as Elle Woods, a sorority girl permanently enveloped in sickening chirpiness. She experiences an all-too-rare moment of deflation when her smug knitwear-loving boyfriend Warner (Matthew Davis) dumps her to head for Harvard Law School and find a partner who's 'a Jackie, not a Marilyn'. Given that he calls her 'Pooh bear' presumably some sort of attempt at enforced endearment it's probably a narrow escape. Only Elle, ditzy perfume-obsessive that she is, doesn't see things that way.
So, in an effort to win Mr Side-Parting back, she decides to apply for Harvard as well and, wouldn'tcha know it, gets in. Thankfully, this unconvincing romantic hook soon becomes little more than a sub-plot as Elle works her way to the top of the class, skilfully dodges the wandering hands of her Professor, and eventually takes on a legal case of her own. Fittingly, the case involves a US fitness Queen, a camp Central American pool boy, and Raquel Welch.
Like a better-looking female equivalent of Jim Carrey, Witherspoon appears in practically every scene, with only the end credits eventually providing a much-needed breather from her incessant grinning and giggling. Selma Blair, as Warren's newfound girlfriend Vivian, is mean and bitchy yet infinitely preferable to our disgustingly bubbly heroine. Am I wrong to think that?
The movie's one saving grace is that it doesn't take itself at all seriously but that doesn't necessarily mean it's funny. It's not.
It's Got: A surprisingly impressive array of DVD extras.
It Needs: To be watched from a distance. A couple of miles away should do it. That way youve got no chance of either seeing or hearing it.
DVD Extras Audio commentary, deleted scenes introduced by the director, The Hair That Ate Hollywood featurette, Perfect Day music video by Hoku, trivia, gratuitous advert for the soundtrack, and a theatrical trailer. DVD Extras Rating: 7/10
Summary
Inoffensive, but also nauseatingly unfunny.