Reese Witherspoon plays Elle Woods, a naïve and well-meaning girl who grew up in an affluent Los Angeles suburb. She’s also blonde, a curse that means she’s the butt end of dumb blonde jokes and not one to be taken seriously. Does she deserve it? Unfortunately, despite being smart, she feeds that image by spending as much time on her makeup and hair as she does her school activities (although this movie teaches you that that’s OK). That all changes, though, when Elle gets soundly dumped by her law school-aspiring boyfriend because she’s not someone "serious" like he needs for his own image. Elle is crushed and will do anything to get him back, including trying to get into law school at Harvard. It’s at that point that Elle figures out that there is life beyond deciding what new hair color is in style.

Witherspoon co-starred in the biting satire Election and proved there that she has the gift to do comedy. In that film, she played Tracey Flick ("Pick Flick!"), an annoying high school senior. Despite her cute bubbly appearance, she perfectly personified a know-it-all brainiac that has her hand raised begging to answer the question before the teacher finishes asking it. It’s the type of student everyone loves to hate. The content of Legally Blonde is a step below that of Election, but here she has a somewhat more difficult acting task. Elle Woods has an equally annoying personality and appearance, but you’re not supposed to hate her; you’re supposed to like her. And the weird thing is that by the end of the movie, you do. A lot of credit goes to Witherspoon for making it work. She dives headfirst into the role, never taking herself too seriously, and she's never afraid to look foolish. In the end, she comes out a winner. Credit also goes to the writers, who know that content like this should never try to take itself too seriously. There is one part where a woman on trial for murder won’t reveal her alibi for reasons that only her and Elle can fully understand. It’s such a foolish and absurd reason that I knew at that point the filmmakers weren’t afraid to laugh at themselves either. It’s all good fun.