Legally Blonde

Newsweek David Ansen

If this Popsicle of a movie melts long before it's over, the first half has more good laughs than all of “Sweethearts.”

Wall Street Journal Ed Epstein

Thanks to Ms. Witherspoon's artful portrayal of a winning, if beachless, Gidget, I found Legally Blonde very enjoyable.

Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector

In a perfect marriage of player and part, Reese Witherspoon is Elle Woods.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

Blondes may or may not have more fun, but in this one case, they certainly provide more fun.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

A featherweight comedy balanced between silliness and charm.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Smart screwball comedy that upends the stereotype of the airhead towhead.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

Imagine the sequel to "Clueless" reconceived as a peroxide "Paper Chase" and punched up with a valley girl version of "My Cousin Vinny" for the climax.

USA Today Susan Wloszczyna

Guilty of inciting a near-laugh riot thanks to an irresistible leading lady whose comic instincts are as impeccable as her manicure.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

Witherspoon goes further, pouring so much humor and pizzazz into Elle that she lifts up the whole movie.

TV Guide Stephen Miller

Witherspoon turns in yet another stellar, nuanced comic performance.

LA Weekly Manohla Dargis

With her ductile physicality and undeniable charm, Witherspoon remains acutely present even when everyone else -- director, writers and cast -- has checked out.

Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones

Somewhere in that chirpy half-pint frame dwell some meaty comic chops. Goldie Hawn may have found her successor.

Portland Oregonian Kim Morgan

Alas, the movie just isn't bouncy, fresh or funny enough. It's just not blonde enough.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

She may be follically blond, but as an actor of distinction who's all of 25, Reese Witherspoon reveals interesting dark roots even as she plays golden girls.

Miami Herald Connie Ogle

Unashamedly sticks with its light comedy roots.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

Like all blond jokes, Legally Blonde is basically meanspirited, and that's when it's funniest.

Boston Globe Jay Carr

There's always Witherspoon, swimming upstream and never letting it slow her down. Blindingly purposeful, she's a perky blond tornado. Marilyn Monroe would not only have cheered her on. She'd have learned something.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

A smart comedy about a smart blonde -- that would be a sensation. But a dumb comedy about a smart blonde turns out to be not bad.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

Witherspoon's sophisticated-pixie brilliance practically makes the movie, and her easy, confident, curvaceous carriage doesn't hurt, either -- she's the thinking guy's cupcake, maybe because her mind is just as supple as her curves.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Witherspoon -- though miles from the keen satire of "Election" -- stays one sharp cookie even as her film crumbles.

Slate David Edelstein

I half-admire its exquisite balancing act, squeezing laughs out of its leading lady's wardrobe, vocabulary, gestures, and cretinously oblivious Beverly Hills sense of entitlement, while simultaneously demonstrating her brilliance, sturdy ethics, and unflappable egalitarianism.

Variety Todd McCarthy

The mildly engaging silliness of its premise is never transformed into something more substantial, and the attempt at a fine-tuned "Clueless"-like tone is only sputteringly achieved.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Benefits enormously from smart casting across the board.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Witherspoon fills the screen with bright-eyed bounce. The rest of the cast is as forgettable as the flimsy story.

Village Voice Jessica Winter

A junk-food movie striving to be nutritious -- it's one of your racier Be Yourself after-school specials crossed with 'Who Moved My Cheese?" for Cosmo girls.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

Guilty of squandering resources. Amusing as it goes about setting up its premise, in Witherspoon, the gifted veteran of "Election" and "Pleasantville," it has an actress willing to throw herself completely into the part to excellent effect.

New York Post Jonathan Foreman

Merely a watery, poorly directed update of "Clueless."

The New York Times Dana Stevens

The character as written is incoherent, but Ms. Witherspoon has the reflexes to make Elle both appealing and ridiculous. It's funny -- in that slightly queasy, un-P.C. Doris Day kind of way.

Mr. Showbiz Kevin Maynard

That's just not enough to recommend it, though it does have one moment of real justice: The person sentenced to jail has truly bad hair.

Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan

Really nothing more than "Clueless" redux but without the edgy, knowing wit.

New Times (L.A.) Andy Klein

The muddiness of the basic concept and the thinness of its execution eventually defeat even Witherspoon's talents.