Wannabe legal eagle Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon) scores one of her most foundational triumphs roughly halfway through Legally Blonde. Determined to help manicurist pal Paulette Bonafonté (Jennifer Coolidge) get her dog back from a slovenly ex-husband, Elle taps into her newfound expertise to befuddle him into defeat. After blinding the poor schlub with some well-deployed legalese, it’s here that the law student notches up her first big win, piling the pooch into a waiting car, and Paulette’s grateful arms. ‘Oh my gosh, did you see him? He’s probably still scratching his head,’ says Elle, as she congratulates herself on a job well done. ‘Yeah, which must be a nice vacation for his balls,’ Paulette responds, wryly. It’s a great one-liner in a film packed chock full of them – and a gag which made me laugh, with no exaggeration, for five days straight.
For some context, I watched Legally Blonde for the first time this year, a few months shy of its 25th anniversary. The tale of a sorority Queen who enrols in Harvard Law School as an attempt to win back her snotty ex-boyfriend, it’s a bona-fide ’00s comedy classic, and a heart-warming, feel-good hug of a film. In addition to a career-best performance from Witherspoon, it also features tremendous support from Luke Wilson, Selma Blair, Ali Larter and four-legged scene-stealers Moondoggie and Lily, who play dogs Bruiser Woods and Rufus. Keep an eye out too, for Longlegs director Osgood Perkins, who plays a character credited as Dorky David.
Talking of Longlegs: I may be a self-avowed maven of horror cinema, but I was instantly taken with Legally Blonde, falling in love with Elle’s never-say-die enthusiasm, self-belief and refreshing lack of cynicism. Directed by Robert Luketic from a sparkling screenplay by Karen McCullah and Lutz Kirsten Smith (based, in turn, on the lived experience of Amanda Brown), it’s easy to see how it became a beloved staple of the genre.
Legally Blonde is chock full of fun performances, great jokes and bellylaughs… but none hit quite the same as its ‘nice vacation for his balls’ line.
In a landscape which has become increasingly divided, cynical and boxed-in, Legally Blonde is the hit of feel-good cheer we could all use. It’s a nice vacation, if you will, for the balls of our life – balls which (to labour the unfortunate metaphor some more) have been not so much scratched as utterly pummelled into submission.
I know – trust a man to take a film about female empowerment and boil it down to, uh, balls.
Legally Blonde: 25th Anniversary is out in UK cinemas now.
