Legally Blonde: Red, White and Blonde

The first Legally Blonde was a surprise smash.  Despite looking like it was going to be the stupidest film since The Wedding Planner (shudder), it turned out to be a highly amusing feel-good movie, with satire to keep the cynics happy and bubblegum to cheer up all us sappy souls who just wanted to go “aaaaah”.

So, a sequel. Our Elle (Witherspoon), having graduated with flying colours from law school, is a working lawyer, albeit one with a real sense of what the most stylish lawyers are wearing this season! She looks like a blonde airhead with no clue of how the world works, but so far her simple, honest methods have worked well and earned her a lot of respect. 

However, while trying to track down her dog’s real mother (don’t ask), she discovers the horrors of animal testing in cosmetic companies (spot the social issue for the day), and so determines to change American law to make testing illegal and have her dog’s mum released from the lab. She heads to Congress with her new bill (pink, with a touch of glitter) and begins her campaign.

It’s a fun hour and a half, with plenty of jokes at the expense of ‘Capital Barbie’ as Elle turns up to work wearing pink and introduces a snaps box into an office full of starchy lawyers. Watching her naïve niceness rubbing off on the serious politicians of Washington is particularly funny, and Witherspoon has so much charm that it’s impossible not to root for her. Some moments are priceless too,  particularly the invasion of the capital by Elle’s sorority gals and the ‘revelations’ about her dog’s sexuality!

Everyone needs a bit of saccharine, and anyone who enjoyed the first film is bound to love this one as well. Just don’t go and watch it with a politics student.