Customer Reviews

Legally Blonde 2: Red, White, and Blonde (Special Edition)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(16)
1 star:		(36)

 

 

The irrepressible and undefeatable Elle Woods (the glorious Reese Witherspoon) is back in all her hot-pinkness in this quickly put-together 2003 sequel to the original LEGALLY BLONDE (2001). That movie was a fun fantasy romp with Elle in the halls of Harvard Law School, showing up her snooty ex-boyfriend who had dumped her for being "too blonde." Kinetically directed by first-time feature director from Down Under, Robert Luketic (now enjoying his second big hit in a row with this year's WIN A DATE WITH TAD HAMILTON!), LEGALLY BLONDE created a new kind of comic hero improbably triumphing through adversity.

LEGALLY BLOND 2: RED, WHITE & BLONDE carries this character and the story to the next level, as Elle pursues the whereabouts of the mother of her Chihuaha, Bruiser. Finding that Bruiser's Mom is a test subject for cosmetics, an outraged Elle decides to get her law firm involved. They present no interest to the subject, and when pressed on the subject, ignobly fire her. As in the first film where she loses her boyfriend early on, she breaks down into tears; after all, she's scheduled to be married to her Law School beau Emmett Richmond (Luke Wilson) before long, and she can't be out of a job when that happens! Ah, but as in the first film, she doesn't stay downtrodden for long: she'll take her case to Washington, where she already has a friend in Rep. Victoria Rudd (Sally Field). She joins her staff (leading to a seemingly-interminable number of scenes in which Elle gets mistaken for an intern), and proceeds to turn her office upside-down. Of course, it's required that she have an enemy right away, and she finds one quickly in Grace Rossiter (Regina King) who is incredibly put-off by Elle's sunny demeanor and "snap-box" ideas. Elle finds that battling against animal testing is not as simple as it should be, as she tries to make "Bruiser's Law" a reality in the face of Congressional deal-making and back-stabbing. Her one believer is her fiance Emmett, who just *knows* that Elle Can Do Anything. Inspired by his supportiveness, Elle slowly begins to make friends in her office and on Capitol Hill, improbably bonding with frigid Congresswoman Libby Hauser (veteran character actress Dana Ivey) over their shared Delta Nu background. Her biggest ally turns out to be her own apartment building doorman, Sid Post (the always-welcome Bob Newhart). However, even with her new-found political friendships, including a hilarious scene in which she bonds with conservative Texas Congressman Stanford Marks (Bruce McGill) over the newly-found gayness of their dogs (you read that right), Elle realizes that not all her political friends are what they seem to be.

Let's face it: The LEGALLY BLONDE series is never going to win any Academy Awards for anything. But, somehow they provide an effective escape and are fun movies to watch. I like the occasional subtle references in LEGALLY BLONDE 2, the best one being the one in which Elle is first shown walking up the U.S. Capitol steps from overhead, a bright pink dot in a sea of black & white; this is very reminiscient of the Ascot scene in MY FAIR LADY (1964), in which Audrey Hepburn comes out in her brightly-colored outfit in the midst of all the gray-colored Ascot suits. Reese Witherspoon may be a fair lady herself, however, LEGALLY BLONDE 2; RED, WHITE & BLONDE becomes too ludicrous for its own good. You know Elle is going to eventually triumph sooner or later, and while some scenes are highly watchable, as a whole this film doesn't retain the same level of charm as the first. It didn't help that a different director, Charles Herman-Wurmfeld, took the helm of this project; Robert Luketic seemed to have a better grasp of comedic editing in the first film. But for mindless entertainment, one could definitely do worse.

MODERATELY RECOMMENDED FOR REESE WITHERSPOON FANS; AGES 12 & UP

In Legally Blonde 2, Reese Witherspoon returns as the dizzy, but highly intelligent lawyer, Elle Woods. Busy planning her forthcoming wedding, Elle decides she wants her dogs' long lost mother to attend the happy event. Unfortunately the private detective, hired to find Bruiser's mother, discovers she is in an animal testing laboratory and they won't release her. Elle decides to take up the fight against animal testing and launches herself on an unsuspecting Washington senate.

Like all too many sequels, Legally Blonde 2 does not live up to its predecessor. The story is just an extension of the original move, nobody takes Elle seriously as she's blonde, dressed in pink, looks like Barbie, but she proves them all wrong etc. etc. The story line tries to push the moral issue of using animals in experiments. Unfortunately, the message is lost in all the froth that surrounds it.

This isn't the worst film you could watch, it's certainly ok for one of those nights when you don't want to have to concentrate too much and just want some simple entertainment. Just don't expect to be rolling on the floor laughing and be prepared to suspend all thoughts of reality with the totally unbelievable storyline. There are a fair number of extras on the DVD for those who like to explore more but, like the film, they are somewhat lightweight.

egally Blonde 2 - Red, White & Blonde (Special Edition)
DVD ~ Reese Witherspoon is just as good and ditzy as the original. Many people said that it paints a bad picture for women. I could disagree more. This is how men want women to act.

This film is great it has a certain age. This film has an occasional use of bad language.
This is about a girl who has a dog poodle and she wants to be a lawyer but will she ever become one you wont find out yet.......
This video/dvd is excellent.I think the person who plays the judge is a great actor/actress and so is everybody else but the judge is best.
I like this film because it is funny and even more enjoyable.I thought everything was marvellous and nothing was bad.

A bit of fluff, this movie nonetheless shows a great intelligence in the ongoing moral and spiritual evolution of Elle Woods.

Most guys like me naturally consider upper class blondes (of whom Reese Witherspoon is an example: she is a lineal descendant of the great Puritan divine John Witherspoon and she went to Princeton) to be belle dames sans merci and many specimens are indeed.

But there is also that stunning blonde who is nice with it and kind to the lower orders.

I have long had a soft spot for Lady Diana and Evita Peron, two blondes (one courtesy of Clairol) whose radiance was complemented by spiritual growth, albeit from a low level.

The screenwriters had enough brains to realize that to be attractive, Elle has to have both innocence, and strength. Thus when put down at the office she preserveres.

Of course, informed by the unhealed epistemological wounds of American society, the film collapses towards the end of its own weight. But, it covers us all in pink chiffon and in these dark days it is a genuine diversion, which is all the screenwriters wanted to produce.

Of course, to be safe, the movie takes the side of small animals, in that Blakean gesture which asks l'homme arme, just how far his rapacity goes today. But for me, an interest in marginal fluff and pocket lint is at this stage a revolutionary gesture.

Especially attractive is an aging Bob Newhart's star turn as the doorman of an ill-disguised Watergate Hotel. His martini-dry humor dates from the Silent Generation of the 1950s but it is coupled with a sobriety and moral seriousness one would expect from a doorman.

Kant tells us that all we can know to be good is purity of heart and perhaps the screenwriters realized this instinctively.

On the downside it is unfortunate that the production chose an excellent African-American actress (who played Ron Tigwell's feisty wife in Jerry Maguire) as a foil to Elle, for it color-codes the situation. But it would take a William Blake to work out how to represent white on black in contemporary America, where the younger generation is so anxious to avoid simplifying assumptions that it winds up in Jim Crow territory.

I loved Legally Blonde (2001), the original movie. Reese Witherspoon was cute, the jokes were funny, the situtations were ridiculous, and it was just a great comedy. Even those who hate chick flicks must admit that Legally Blonde is worth a look because it is so funny.

This movie does not even touch the first legally blonde because it is just not funny. It appears that PeTA paid someone to write this movie for them, because everything revolves around PeTA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). I'm all for the protection of animals, but it was not a very funny movie. Her dog ended up being gay, which I suppose is supposed to be funny. The plot is that Elle Woods wants to get Bruiser's mom out of animal testing. Quite understandable. But the plot isn't that good. I would only rent this one and buy the first movie.

I felt embarassed watching it. It's like a movie for little kiddies, who are charmed my bright colors, glitter, lot's of smiles and really bad acting.

I loved the first Legally Blonde movie, but this one is very hard to watch. I felt the urge to turn it off, at least 15 times.

This movie isn't even funny. It is trully stupid. It is a waste of time and money. I think all that Elle Woods was missing was a Barney costume.

Legally Blond (2001) has it all. It has humor, romance, and the determination for Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon) to win back the love of her life, Warner Huntington III(Matthew Davis). This hilarious comedy in color is directed by Robert Luketic at the MGM/Ua Studio and has a running time of 96 minutes. Elle is expecting for Warner to propose to her, but instead he dumps his Pooh Bear because she is "too blond." He leaves California and heads to Harvard Law School where hereunites with an old prep school sweetheart. Elle is determined to win the love of her life back, so uses her resources and amazingly enough gets accepted to Harvard. She travels to Harvard with one thing on her mind, Warner. However, law school is not quite what she had in mind, it's not like her life back in California where she was president of her sorority and a Hawaiian Tropic Girl. Elle fights the battle of her life for herself and blonds everywhere and most of all, for her guy. This movie is funny with a bit of a corny blend, but is definitely worth watching although not receiving any awards or nominations. A soundtrack is also available.

Now, I enjoyed the first one, it was energetic, original and fun. This one stunk. It seemed they just rushed it out and didn't think about the script at all. Embarresing.

This is easily one of the worst movies I've seen in years, especially in comparison to its predecessor. I admire Reese Witherspoon, Sally Field and Bob Newhart, but they are entirely wasted on this sophomoric, shmaltzy script. The first Legally Blonde was good, but this is horrid, horrid, horrid. It is just NOT funny.