July 17, 2001 -- "Legally Blonde" is one of those rare modern comedies that does not rely on gross-out humor or slapstick for its laughs. The humor comes from its characters, mainly the unlikely Harvard Law School student Elle Woods (played brilliantly by Reese Witherspoon of "Election").

Woods appears on the surface to be a bubble-headed blonde, but we learn early on in the movie that her valley girl front is just an affectation. She's got a lot of horsepower under her high-fashion pink hat. She had her life all planned out. She was going to marry the rich Warner Huntington III (Matthew Davis of "Pearl Harbor"), but he dumps her for a richer girl. Then she hits on a plan to go to Harvard Law School to get her boyfriend back.

Woods' entrance application video to Harvard is one of the many funny gags in the film. Woods finds out life is tough at Harvard, as the first fashion major accepted at the school, and she gets no respect from the students or professors. Then she decides to get serious. The moral of the story? With lots of brainpower and a good sense of fashion, you can overcome many obstacles. She ends up with an entirely different outlook on life. She realizes she doesn't need to marry a rich man. She can make a good living with her own brainpower, and help others in the process.

Witherspoon's flawless performance is reminiscent of Alicia Silverstone's great performance in "Clueless," a similar kind of pretty duckling story. Witherspoon is ably backed up by good performances by Luke Wilson of "Charlie's Angels," who plays Emmett, Selma Blair of "Down to You," who plays Vivian Kensington, Victor Garber of "Titanic," who plays professor Callahan, Holland Taylor of "The Practice" TV show, who plays professor Stromwell and Jennifer Coolidge, who plays a manicurist who befriends Woods.

The screenplay, by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith succeeds because the story is character-driven. During those times when the movie stoops to sight gags (although the costumes, designed by Sophie Carbonell are effective), slapstick humor and out-of-character insult humor, it often comes up short. The story also takes a detour into sentimentality at times, and that doesn't really work, either. Most of the time, however, the story is light, funny, sweet, with plenty of good one-liners. Witherspoon's flawless performance is, more than anything else, what carries the day. Oh yeah, and there is a cute little dog named "Bruiser" that helps, too. This film rates a B.

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