Notice And Comment: Legally Blonde

This year marks the film's 20th anniversary. How well does it hold up?

Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde (photo by Tracy Bennett/MGM Pictures via Getty Images).

I was pleasantly surprised by the robust discussion¹ that broke out among you over My Cousin Vinny. So let’s try this again, with another landmark legal film that may prove somewhat more controversial: Legally Blonde, the 2001 comedy directed by Robert Luketic that turned Reese Witherspoon into a bona fide movie star. (The film also featured Luke Wilson, Matthew Davis, Victor Garber, the always delightful Jennifer Coolidge, and the criminally underrated Selma Blair.)

Last month, the New York Times published a lengthy retrospective about Legally Blonde to commemorate its twentieth anniversary last month. Here’s what writer Ilana Kaplan had to say:

It’s been 20 years since Elle [Woods], against all odds, got into Harvard Law, fended off a professor’s advances and came to the legal defense of a sorority alumna. She remains an emblem for challenging stereotypes and embracing female empowerment in the face of misogyny. By refuting the “dumb blonde” trope, Elle has become beloved for her sincerity and her insistence on unapologetically being herself.

In 2021, “Legally Blonde” is more relevant than ever. Years before the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements, the Robert Luketic-directed comedy tackled workplace sexual misconduct and power dynamics. High-profile fans like Ariana Grande and Kim Kardashian (who each paid homage to it in videos) have stoked its legacy, as has a 2003 sequel (and a third movie due next year), as well as a Broadway adaptation.

For the article, Kaplan interviewed the stars and screenwriters of the film and unearthed some interesting nuggets—alternative endings they entertained, other actors they considered casting, and lines that wound up on the cutting room floor. Like this one:

Originally, there was a line when [Elle’s friend] Serena says, “What’s the one thing that always makes us feel better no matter what?” And I say, “Cunnilingus.” That was actually a line in the film.

As you might recall, in the finished film this got turned into… “a manicure.”

So is Legally Blonde “more relevant than ever,” as the Times contends? Does the movie stand the test of time?

My own verdict: yes. Legally Blonde is one of my favorite films, law-related or otherwise, and I owe it a debt of gratitude. Just as some people can say they went to law school because of Legally Blonde, I can say that the movie influenced my own move from practicing law to writing about it. My first blog—Underneath Their Robes, as pink as Elle’s resume, in which I pretended to be an attractive blonde woman obsessed with law and fashion—definitely drew inspiration from Legally Blonde.

And even Zach somewhat agrees, conceding that Legally Blonde is solid. When I asked him where LB ranks in the law-film pantheon, he responded “Better than MCV, although not on the level of The Devil’s Advocate—but what is?”

So, readers, bend and snap to it, and share your views on Legally Blonde in the comments. Is it a Jackie, or a Marilyn? A classic like My Cousin Vinny, overrated fluff, or somewhere in between?

1. I say “discussion” and not “debate” because there was near-universal agreement that MCV is a great movie (and my husband Zach is seriously misguided in criticizing it).