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LEGALLY
BLONDE
5/10
USA
2001
director
: Robert Luketic
script : Karen McCullah Lutz, Kirsten Smith (based on novel by Amanda
Brown)
cinematography : Anthony B Richmond
editing : Anita Brandt Burgoyne, Garth Craven
music : Rolfe Kent
lead actors : Reese Witherspoon, Matthew Davis, Selma Blair, Luke Wilson
96 minutes
An
enjoyably silly blend of Clueless and Erin
Brockovich, surprise US box-office hit Blonde is a full-bore
showcase for Witherspoon, the ferociously ambitious high-schooler Tracy
Flick from Election. As Elle Woods, she’s like Tracy’s nicer –
but no less resourceful - Beverly Hills cousin, whose quest to win back
her snobby ex (Davies) leads all the way to Harvard Law School. Tutors
and students soon realise there’s much more to this extrovert fashion-plate
than meets the eye, and when she’s finally let loose in courtroom her
Rodeo Drive common-sense proves persuasive to judge and jury alike…
There
are, supposedly, other performers involved in this picture – Blair and
Wilson pop up as lame romantic distractions for Davies and Witherspoon
respectively, while Raquel Welch and Jennifer (American Pie) Coolidge
score cameos – but it’s basically a tour-de-force for the relentlessly
sunny Witherspoon. She’s a refreshing throwback to the golden era of cinema
comediennes, which is just as well, since the direction and script
are much more earthbound. The court scenes, for instance, only rarely
approach the giddy lunacy of, say, Wild Things. Luketic wisely
lets his star get on with her turn, but the screenplay – adapted from
a bestselling teen novel – could surely have come up with a few more original
obstacles to place in her steamrolling path.
In
lesser hands, Elle could easily have grated on audiences’ nerves but,
resplendent in an endless succession of colour-coordinated outfits (Elle
favours fuchsia pink) Witherspoon manages the tricky feat of keeping this
irrepressibly bouncy sorority-girl sympathetic. Of course, we’re never
in doubt that she’s going to come up trumps, and it helps that anybody
who stands in her way is caricatured as a fool, a frump or a crook. But
Erin Brockovich, for all its Oscar glory, was rigged exactly the
same way – at least Blonde is supposed to be a broad, cartoonish
farce.
10th
October, 2001
(seen
Oct-5-01, UGC Parrs Wood, Manchester)
by Neil
Young
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