Directed by: Charles Herman-Wurmfeld
Written by:Kate Kondell
Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Sally Field, Regina King, Jennifer Coolidge, Bruce McGill, Luke Wilson
Released: September 11, 2003
Grade: C-

It’s hard enough to get people interested in politics at the best of times.  Politicians appear on television and speak with the same tired clichés and bicker over the same points.  One politician will make a statement and the opposition will immediately say the exact opposite.  Well if you think politicians are boring and predictable, wait till you witness the horrors of Legally Blonde 2.

When we last left Elle Woods (Witherspoon), she had beaten the odds and graduated with a law degree.  We open this sequel with Elle and company planning her upcoming wedding.  She’s to marry fellow legal mind Emmett Richmond (Wilson), who you may remember from the first film.  Elle is just as much in love with her dog, Bruiser, and hires a private investigator to find Bruiser’s mother so that she too can be invited to the big day.

The investigator does his job but the result is not what Elle expected.  Bruiser’s mum is at an animal testing facility where a comedic company is using her as a test subject.  Elle hopes the partners at her law firm to help fight this terrible injustice but her wishes fall on deaf ears.  She realises there’s only one way to remedy the situation – to go to Washington.

Elle magically walks into a position working under Republican Senator Victoria Rudd (Field) where she can create a bill and generate interest in her plight to ban animal testing by cosmetic companies.  At first, she is laughed at by Rudd’s other staff (shock horror) but she uses her unique style to impress a few key politicians and suddenly the ball is rolling.  Throw in some helpful advice from her hotel doorman (played by, wait for it, Bob Newhart) and victory will be hers.

I am at a loss to explain what the message is here.  Is it that one person can make a difference even if they are a bloody moron?  If so, then that message was thoroughly drummed into us in the first Legally Blonde film and didn’t need retelling.  Is it that testing on animals is wrong?  If so, then this is the most one-sided biased piece of propaganda since A Time To Kill.  In only one scene is reference made to the other side of this argument comes it’s a dismal effort at best.  Is it that some American politicians are corrupt but the good guys always win in the end?  Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

Reese Witherspoon, what have you done to deserve this?  Her career began so promisingly with a wide range of roles in some brilliant low-budget flicks including Freeway, Pleasantville, American Psycho, Cruel Intentions and Election.  She is a great actress and deserves better than the pitiful script dished up here.  Let’s not even discuss the many other stereotypes on show.  Most irritating moment: watching the senators nod their heads up and down with bliss as they listen to Elle’s “powerful” address.  

If there’s no legitimate reason for a sequel, leave it be.  This is a nothing film.  No jokes but rather one complete joke.