MOVIE REVIEW

Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde  (2003)

Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Sally Field, Bob Newhart
Director: Charles Herman-Wurmfeld

Rating: PG-13

Studio: MGM

Release Date: 7.02.03

Review Posted: 7.02.03

Spoilers: Minor

By Sara Michelle Fetters

"Girls Just Want to be Blonde"

I took my friend to the public promotional screening of Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde the other night as he’s absolutely enthralled by the 2001 Reese Witherspoon original. So much so he even dressed up in a near-complete pink ensemble and brought his tiny Chihuahua Cookie in a clear pink plastic bag, both of them wearing matching pink heart bracelets.

Needless to say, he was a hit with everyone from the radio station promo people to the theater workers and especially to the screening’s audience. In fact his and Cookie’s presence was all anyone could talk about after the film, countless people coming up and telling him how fabulous he and his little dog were.

Insane, too be sure, but also quite telling. For if he is all anyone wants to talk about – and this was an audience full of those eager to eat up Blonde 2 – after the screening, what does that say about the movie itself? Unfortunately, nothing very good where the effervescent and endearing Witherspoon and her film are immediately concerned, for although Blonde 2 has some wonderful little moments of sheer blissful hilarity, on the whole it is an imminently forgetful sequel.

Once again, Witherspoon plays bubbly ingénue Elle Woods. Freshly graduated from Harvard Law School, the bubbly unaware lawyer is horrified to discover after searching for her dog’s mother that a major cosmetic firm is testing its products on animals. With the blessing of her fiancé Emmett (Luke Wilson, slumming once again but this time without the charm that made him so infectious the first time around), Elle quickly heads to Washington, DC to work with her idol – and fellow Delta Nu and Harvard grad – Congresswoman Victoria Rudd (Sally Field) and to start crafting a bill outlawing all cosmetic animal testing.

Quickly nicknamed “Capitol Barbie” by Rudd’s staff and undermined at every turn by the legislator’s chief of staff Grace (Regina King, far better in her slight role than the movie deserves), Elle stumbles headfirst in her spiffy pink high heals into roadblock after roadblock. Unsure if she’s cut out to take part in a world of backdoor deals and shifting alliances, the surprisingly resilient girly-girl begins to gain confidence and Capitol Hill savvy with the help of hotel doorman Sidney Post (Bob Newhart) and the love and support of Emmett and friends Paulette (Jennifer Coolidge), Serena (Alana Ubach) and Margot (Jessica Cauffiel). Soon, Elle is winning key support from right-wing Republican Stanford Marks (Bruce McGill) and bleeding-heart Democrat Libby Hauser (Dana Ivey) alike, and “Bruiser’s Bill” – named after her Chihuahua – quickly starts gaining headway amongst the jaded politicos of DC.

All looks bright for Elle, Brusier and her bill to end animal testing until a key supporter traitorously attempts to kill its chances in an effort to save her own political future. With only days to get a majority of the House of Representatives to force the bill out of committee and bring it to a vote, can Elle produce a miracle while keeping her sunny outlook on life and not chipping a well-manicured nail?

It’s just as about as silly as it sounds but Legally Blonde 2 is completely innocuous enough while it is up on the screen. In fact, it’s hard not to get caught up in Witherspoon’s sunny disposition and girl-power attitude. It’s wonderful to see a woman who is completely and utterly feminine yet still is a dynamo of crackerjack smarts and blistering determination. The idea that women have to be bland and dress down to be effective in life – or in the movies for that matter – is a concept that can be hit on the head into senselessness over and over again as far as I am concerned. Just because I like to wear flashy heels and sparkly makeup doesn’t make me a dimwit or a porn star, and it’s nice to see a character on film that feels the same way.

That said, why do both of the Legally Blonde movies have to be quite this thin. In the first film, she only became a lawyer because her boyfriend dumped her and ran off to Harvard. Here, she only becomes an advocate of the people (and the animals) because she just can’t handle the fact her favorite brand of lip gloss first touched the lips of a schnauzer before reaching hers. For a woman who ends up being so smart at the end of each of the films, Elle certainly doesn’t reach her epiphanies because of any deep philosophical desire to do so.

Granted, I’m tearing apart the moral reasoning of what is essentially nothing more than a modern-day fairy tale. These movies aren’t made by brain surgeons or rocket scientists after all; they’re made by entertainers longing to impart some genteel moralizing and 90-minutes of laugh-inducing fun. Unfortunately, it is on that level that Blonde 2 has its biggest problems. While there are laughs to be had they are far more few and far between when compared to the original. Certainly, there are some bigger laughs here than were ever to be found the first time through – an extended bit between Marks’ and Woods’ dogs nearly had me on the floor doubled over – and the audience definitely responded to the dynamic between Witherspoon and Field. But whereas the first film managed to sustain a nice humoristic overtone for its complete running time, Blonde 2 always feels like its straining at the seems.

I’m also tired of Elle’s supporting cadre of insipid friends. I got the point the first time around about Paulette, Serena and Margot, that one doesn’t necessarily need the brains or the smarts to still be driven and have a good heart longing to help the cause. While I like the sentiment, I’m tired of the characters. They’re boring, impertinent and – worst of all – not at all funny. And where that really isn’t a surprise when it comes to the idiot Delta Nu’s played by Ubach and Cauffiel, it is a travesty in the case of the usually very funny Coolidge. So funny and endearing in the first film, she’s left with nothing to do this time around save be the butt of some very insulting jokes. Not good at all.

Don’t blame Newhart, though, for any of Blonde 2’s shortcomings. As a doorman who’s seen it – and knows it – all during his 30-plus years in DC, the veteran funnyman appears to be having a blast working alongside firecracker Witherspoon. Their chemistry is just radiant, her playing off of his mannered comedy with blazing pizzazz. She’s nearly as good with Field, the Oscar-winning actress obviously enjoying herself immensely. I just wish that, other than one really great exchange, the two of them had a little bit more to do together. Field is relegated to more scenes talking ponderously serious on a cell phone than anything else, the potential for some great pyrotechnics between her Victoria and Witherspoon’s Elle left seemingly by the wayside.

It’s almost as if director Charles Herman-Wurmfeld is so afraid of throwing a monkey wrench into the Legally Blonde mechanics that he ends up making some of the most dynamic pieces of his instrument impotent. There is never any sense of the style or whimsical humanity that graced the director’s last film, the magnificent romantic comedy Kissing Jessica Stein. In its place is a statistician’s expertise at putting things together devoid of all the subtle nuance and genteel humility an old-fashioned piece of pop entertainment like this really needs to succeed. Regrettable, because on paper Herman-Wurmfeld seemed like a wonderful choice to take over in the director’s chair, and yet the end-movie almost looks as if it directed itself.

Luckily, Blonde 2’s major asset isn’t on cruise control for the sequel. All the charm the movie finally does extol is due a large extent to the charms and talents of Witherspoon. While I’d love to see her stretch herself once again in films as daring and wonderful as Freeway and Election (and this fall’s Mira Nair epic Vanity Fair could be just that), the young actress continues to be a completely enthralling presence and a pure joy to watch. It’s easy to see why my dressed-up friend and his little Chihuahua love her so much. If only Blonde 2 could have been just as much a life of the party as those two ended up being after the screening. I’d really have something to talk about then.

Rating: 2.5 out of 4

TOP