Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde
Directed by Charles Herman-Wurmfeld
By Erin Oke

In this fluffy follow-up to Legally Blonde, Elle (Reese Witherspoon) is now a successful lawyer and planning her wedding to Emmett (Luke Wilson). Naturally, Elle insists that her faithful dog Bruiser's mother attend the ceremony, but discovers to her horror that Bruiser's mom is cruelly locked away in an animal testing lab for a cosmetics company.

After clashing with her law firm, who happen to represent the evil cosmetics company, Elle decides to go to Washington to try to get a bill passed that would ban testing on animals. Once there, Elle's sunny demeanour and naive faith in people's goodness is pitted against the cynical backroom machinations of Washington politics. Guess who comes out on top?

The sequel isn't nearly as consistent or infectious as the original. Major plot turns happen a bit too easily and there are a few too many apparent climaxes, which makes the film drag towards the end. That said, it does have its moments of silly fun. The supporting cast is remarkably talented, with the surprising additions of Bob Newhart as Elle's extremely useful doorman and Sally Field as the Congresswoman who sponsors Elle's bill.

Also entertaining is the returning stable of actors, including the always funny Jennifer Coolidge and Luke Wilson, who is woefully underused in the supportive boyfriend role (although his Jimmy Stewart impression in a nod to Mr. Smith Goes To Washington is one of the film's highlights). However, like the first one, this movie really belongs to Reese Witherspoon's Elle, who somehow manages to be so likeable you just can't help but root for her. (MGM)

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