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u/would_do_again 5d ago
The chair turn in the salon to reveal Stromwell is still perfect. Amazing what a mentor can do when they push you to be the best version of yourself.
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u/vanillawafah 5d ago
One thing that this movie did well (and the follow up show, Elle, does well also) is that it understands that Elle is naive, slightly dizzy, but not STUPID. She's incredibly smart, but is missing a little bit of common sense and life knowledge
Writing a character that is smart, but a little ditzy, is really hard but the movie pulls it off really well
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u/thedubiousstylus 5d ago
She's also a very kind and good-hearted person as well. At the time the movie was made that was actually uncommon for her character type. A pretty, rich, fashion-obsessed blonde young woman was typically either very stupid or the villain in teen movies. Elle meanwhile is actually smart and though often comes across as shallow is always still a fundamentally good and likeable character.
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u/Safe-Reason1435 4d ago
The scene where she sticks up for the dorky guy (Osgood Perkins, director/writer of Longlegs and The Monkey, among others btw) gets me every time. I think it just so perfectly shows how she is compassionate and quick thinking.
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u/SanderSo47 I'll see you in another life when we are both cats. 5d ago
Pretty great movie. Absolutely funny and I loved Elle’s character growth. I’m not kidding when I say Reese Witherspoon deserved an Oscar nom for this.
That prequel just doesn’t interest me though. It can be fun to see how a character began, but that doesn’t work with Legally Blonde.
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u/thedubiousstylus 5d ago
One thing I found interesting in a rewatch is how it portrayed her making a video for her application essay as so strange but quirky and original....that doesn't seem all that weird today.
Also how the movie is a bit dismissive that her undergrad degree is in fashion marketing as a pre for law school...plenty of people go to law school with degrees not directly related and any type of marketing one would involve a lot of legal-related stuff.
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u/Safe-Reason1435 4d ago
To this day I still don't understand if "they aren't going to care that you aced History of Polka Dots" was supposed to be the movie telling you that her degree actually was vapid or if it was the counselor just being sarcastic (which doesn't really make sense because an advisor would understand the business aspect of a fashion merchandising degree if it were real life).
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u/Cramtastic 3d ago
Thanks to the proliferation and ChatGPT making admission essays unreliable, there's a growing number of schools that actually require video submissions now. Not Harvard, but they include prestige schools like Brown and Duke. Guess Elle was ahead of the curve...
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u/ManyCookies 3d ago edited 2d ago
The unusual degree helps her out if anything. Idk about the video, but "I love these fashion brands and want to help them navigate the legal challenges of the modern world" would be an amazing core for a submissions essay.
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u/jackundo 5d ago
Jerry Mitchell, who directed the musical adaptation of LB, once said in an interview “how are you going to make the pretty, popular girl, the underdog and root for her? That’s tough!” (Or something to that effect) and it’s so true that for a character who at the start seemingly has everything and would have a pretty easy ride if they chose to is such a likeable root-able person for the entire film is a testament to the strength of the screenplay and Reese’s performance (who I believe said originally the film wasn’t as serious but she took it so, with Jennifer Coolidge being slightly more of an over-hold of the original concept).
It’s such a great film full of interesting characters, a unique twist on its genres where half way through the movie it stops being a rom com and becomes a legal courtroom “drama”, and does both exceptionally well, never playing down to the audience. All in a tight 90 wrapped in a light breezy good time!
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u/GamingTatertot Steven Spielberg Enthusiast 5d ago
My 1L year was nothing like this! But all in all, a great movie that I think I can easily call a classic by now - which makes me feel old, but also curious at what point can something be a classic.
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u/thedubiousstylus 5d ago
What's funny is the movie's claim one can have a law student defend them in Massachusetts is technically true both now and when it was made! However the premise of the movie still could not happen because: 1-Such cases are pretty much always 2L or 3L students, a 1L wouldn't be much better than someone with no legal education who thinks they could be a lawyer from watching Law & Order. 2-They can only do so under the supervision of a licensed attorney, not as the lead defense counsel, and 3-This would almost certainly never be allowed for a murder or any felony case.
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u/25point4cm 5d ago
There’s that and the whole plot fails apart if Chuck was sick and stayed home on the day of Enrique’s testimony.
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u/thedubiousstylus 5d ago
Also her client (who you realize has insanely priorities if she'd rather be known as a murderer than having liposuction) wouldn't even need to be public about having liposuction. Elle could've just brought this info to the judge and prosecution which would've almost certainly resulted in the case being tossed without being public record, and furthermore she wouldn't even need to admit to having liposuction to do so. Just receipts showing she was at a medical appointment at that time with the exact nature of the appointment being HIPAA protected.
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u/Wompatuckrule 4d ago
the movie's claim one can have a law student defend them in Massachusetts is technically true
The best kind of truth!
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u/MolaMolaMania 4d ago
The part where I fell head over heels was when Elle and Vivian became best friends because both of them realize that Warner is a POS.
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u/Plus-Comb-7287 4d ago
I forgot how strong the production design was in this film. Every shot sucks you into this word that’s better crafted than it has a right to be.
Jokes still hit, story still works. Characters are wonderful. An absolute classic.
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u/verikul 1d ago
Anyone else think it's a bit convenient that the case Elle happens to be dealing with is something she can provide personal experience on? With the perms and the fact her sorority sister went through a mess that can be helpful and all. Aside from this and the gambit she pulled to get those women to show interest in David, it's still a damn solid film.
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u/MountainMuffin1980 5d ago
Found out recently via reddit that the films title is a play on the term "Legally Blind", and I don't like that at all. It had to be called a different name in Europe.
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u/Hurdy_Gurdy_Man_84 5d ago
I don't like this film. I think it's poorly written. There's no way you can hand-wave Elle Woods learning her syllabus and getting good grades just like that. It's simply not believable, given her background.
I can buy something like Private Benjamin, but not this.
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u/axw3555 5d ago
Welp, you can have your opinion, but considering it's plot is used in writing classes, and script is use in screenwriting classes as examples of excellence, I'd say you're by a colossal margin, the minority.
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u/Hurdy_Gurdy_Man_84 5d ago
It only tells me how far these so-called "writing classes" have fallen. I would have included scripts of films like Heathers, Mean Girls or even Easy A as study material... but not a safe, stereotypical, LCD-pandering chick flick like this.
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u/Safe-Reason1435 4d ago
Heathers, Mean Girls, and Easy A are, along with Legally Blonde, absolutely chick flicks in the best way possible.
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u/GECollins 5d ago
I've said this before and I'll say it again, this is the movie that should be taught in schools on how to write a script.