Review

Review Date: 13-July-03
Spoiler Rating: Medium
Juju Judgment: Juicy

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

In Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, the sequel to Reese Witherspoon's surprise 2001 hit, the perky-in-pink heroine heads to Washington DC to author and promote a bill which would ban the use of animal testing by cosmetic manufacturers. Along the way, she discovers that political allies are found in unusual places (e.g., working the door at her apartment building) and unusual ways (e.g., offering a timely dog poop bag to a prominent senator). She also meets some hard-nosed political veterans and suffers a few bruises by running into corruption, disillusionment, and the old you-scratch-my-back-I'll-scratch-yours dealings that form the bulk of the business on Capitol Hill. But in the end, she manages to overcome them all with personal grooming savvy and an unwavering faith in herself, the power of what's right, and the inherent goodwill of all Americans. Nay, she doesn't just overcome them, she converts them: after a session with Elle Woods, Congress isn't a bunch of self-serving, conniving, spineless scumbags who represent the highest bidder instead of the voters at home, but an honest group of well meaning folks who only need reminding that they were once young, idealistic, and devoted to the nation and its government. In short, the movie is a complete and utter fantasy.

Hooray for it!

If you liked Legally Blonde, you will most likely enjoy this film, but people with no stomach for Cute should probably stay away. Still, kudos are due to the filmmakers — screenwriter Kate Kondell, director Charles Herman-Wurmfeld, and, especially, Witherspoon herself — for accomplishing once again a very difficult feat: the manipulation of Cute for entertainment purposes without devolving into exploitation or meanness. Although laughs are delivered at the expense of Elle Woods' friends, wardrobe, decorating habits, and wedding plans (yes, she's getting hitched to Luke Wilson, her beau from the original film), the movie never seriously makes fun of her or diminishes the fact that she is a genuine hero who succeeds both personally and professionally by remaining true to her values. Witherspoon possesses an uncanny amount of charisma and presence; I doubt if there's another actress working today who could make Elle — a sorority queen with over 250 pairs of shoes, untold depths of cheerfulness, and a Harvard Law degree — seem almost real (and in a good way).

Just as the star is grinned at but not demeaned, the political system in Legally Blonde 2 is gently lamented but still accorded a hopeful respect. In this way, Elle Woods' unalloyed good nature seems to pervade the movie as a whole. It knows that congressmen and women (like the one played by Sally Field) must often compromise to survive, or get off on the thrill of high stakes dealing, or simply don't give a damn, but it still takes pride in the work they do and the system in which they are involved. The excitement with which Elle first enters a committee meeting and the reverence with which she places her bill into "the hopper" are palpable and presented without archness or derision. In short, the flag waving here is not meant for the way it is, but for the way it could and should be, and it seems so earnest that even the hackneyed scene of Elle having a midnight chat with the Lincoln Memorial (just as Lisa Simpson did in the same situation) is more sigh worthy than gag worthy.

If you've had your eyes open while reading this review, you have probably discerned that I'm far too jaded to view anything in Legally Blonde 2 as more than a Hollywood bubble that would burst in the harsh light of day. But while I generally like my fantasies to involve sweating hunks in far off lands battling apocalyptic evil with swords, it strikes me that if I were twelve (or had a daughter that age), this is the kind of wonderland that I would find most entertaining, enlightening, and inspiring to see. These are tough times in America, when ignorance is everywhere and a faddish patriotism is being used to replace a lost faith in our American institutions. For offering a sincerely positive message about the potential of an individual and of our country, no matter how small or trivial, Legally Blonde 2 gets my vote.

Copyright © 2003 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.