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Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde

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Legally Blonde 2:
Red, White & Blonde
Theatrical release poster
Directed byCharles Herman-Wurmfeld
Screenplay byKate Kondell
Based onCharacters
by Amanda Brown
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyElliot Davis
Edited byPeter Teschner
Music byRolfe Kent
Production
companies
Distributed byMGM Distribution Co.
Release date
  • July 2, 2003 (2003-07-02)
Running time
95 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$45 million[2]
Box office$124.9 million[2]

Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde (also referred to simply as Legally Blonde 2) is a 2003 American comedy film directed by Charles Herman-Wurmfeld and written by Kate Kondell. It is a sequel to the 2001 film Legally Blonde and the second film in the Legally Blonde series. It stars Reese Witherspoon (who also served as the film's executive producer) alongside an ensemble cast featuring Sally Field, Regina King, Jennifer Coolidge, Bruce McGill, Dana Ivey, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Bob Newhart, and Luke Wilson, with Coolidge and Wilson reprising their roles from the first film.

Although the story is set in Washington, D.C., the film was shot in the offices at Vivint Smart Home Arena (then the Delta Center), the Utah State Capitol in Salt Lake City, Utah, and the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois. The supposed "aerial views" on Washington buildings were scale models built by the crew.[citation needed]

The film opened on July 2, 2003, to generally negative reviews from critics. Nevertheless, it was a box office success, grossing $90 million in North America and $125 million worldwide.[2]

Plot

After the events of Legally Blonde, Elle Woods wants her Chihuahua, Bruiser, to reunite with his mother, because she would like Bruiser's mom to attend her wedding to Emmett. Elle hires a detective to find Bruiser's mother, only to discover that the owner of her dog's mother is C'est Magnifique, a cosmetics company that uses Bruiser's mother for "testing". She finds out that her law firm represents the C'est Magnifique Corporation and when she urges the firm to drop them as a client, she is fired.

Elle decides to leave Boston, where she and Bruiser have settled with her fiancé Emmett, and go to Washington, D.C., to work on Bruiser's Bill. Elle is upset that her dog's mother is in a make-up testing laboratory, and decides to take it upon herself to be the "voice for those who can't speak" and to outlaw animal testing.

While working for Congresswoman Victoria Rudd, Elle is met with skepticism and other barriers common to Washington politics. Rudd's member of staff, Timothy, sarcastically calls her "Capitol Barbie". There has even been a Barbie doll based on Elle Woods.[3] After a variety of ups and downs including a failed attempt to improve her work environment by having her co-workers write compliments about one another and place them in the "snap cup", Elle starts to lose her faith in Washington politics.

Elle discovers that Bruiser is actually gay, after she is paged by "The Paws That Refreshes: A Doggy Day Spa". Bruiser has been affectionate with Leslie, a Rottweiller owned by Congressman Stan Marks, the Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce which has jurisdiction over Bruiser's Bill. Elle also finds that Congresswoman Libby Hauser, the Ranking Member of the same committee, was a member of Elle's sorority Delta Nu. As a result, both Marks and Hauser warm to Elle and eventually come to support Bruiser's Bill.

Elle also discovers that Congresswoman Rudd has actually been working against her. Rudd has been doing so in an effort to satisfy the interests of a major campaign donor named "Bob" (who is never seen, but with whom Rudd has several telephone conversations). However, Rudd is eventually blackmailed into supporting Elle's petition because Rudd's Chief of Staff, Grace Rossiter, eavesdrops on a recorded conversation during which Rudd admits to Elle that she has been working against Bruiser's Bill in order to help Rudd's sponsors who want to continue with tests on animals. As Grace is appalled that Rudd lied to Elle and blamed it on her, Grace and Elle eventually reach a place of mutual respect, especially after Grace admits she came to Washington D.C. with an enthusiasm not unlike Elle's, but later lost that idealism when she discovered how dirty politics could really be.

With the help of her friends, Elle's discharge petition is successful, and Bruiser's Bill is brought to the floor of the House. Bruiser's mother and the rest of the dogs are released by C'est Magnifique Corporation. Elle and Emmett get married in a park in D.C., albeit not at Fenway Park as they had planned, but standing on the home plate which has been delivered to D.C. by the UPS Guy.

Cast

Reception

Although Witherspoon's performance was praised, the film overall received mostly negative reviews, and came in at number 21 on Entertainment Weekly's "Top 25 Worst Sequels Ever Made" (2006).[4] On Rotten Tomatoes it has an approval rating of 37% based on reviews from 156 critics. The site's critical consensus states: "this blonde joke is less funny the second time around".[5] On Metacritic it has a score of 47 out of 100 based on reviews from 39 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[6] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B on scale of A to F.[7]

Box office

The film hit theaters on the Wednesday before the Fourth of July in 2003 and grossed nearly $40 million by Monday. However, the following weekend the film could only boast sales half of that and the film quickly left theaters in the coming weeks. Grossing about $90 million in the U.S., the film was a success for the studio, though many expected it to perform just as well as Witherspoon's last big film, Sweet Home Alabama.

Soundtrack

Legally Blonde 2:
Red, White & Blonde –
Motion Picture Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by
various artists
ReleasedJuly 1, 2003 (2003-07-01)
GenrePop, pop rock, R&B, alternative rock
LabelCurb
ProducerAnita Camarata, Antonina Armato, Dann Huff, Kaylin Frank, Michael Patterson, Nic Jodoin, Timothy James[8]
Singles from Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde – Motion Picture Soundtrack
  1. "We Can"
    Released: October 28, 2003
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[9]

A soundtrack for the film was released on July 1, 2003, by Curb Records.[10] "We Can" was released as a single for the soundtrack by American country music recording artist LeAnn Rimes on October 28, 2003, by Curb Records.[11]

Track listing
No.TitleRecording artist(s)Length
1."We Can"LeAnn Rimes3:40
2."Breakthrough"Hope 72:45
3."Atomic Dog" (Dogs of the World Unite Remix)George Clinton (featuring Coolio)4:23
4."Me Against the World"Superchick2:58
5."I'm Just a Bill"Deluxx Folk Implosion3:26
6."Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves"Eurythmics and Aretha Franklin4:53
7."More Bounce (In California)"Soul Kid #13:59
8."For What It's Worth"Candyskins4:00
9."Power to the People"John Lennon3:21
10."America"Lou Reed2:49
11."We Can" (American Mix)LeAnn Rimes3:36

References

  1. ^ "Legally Blonde 2 - Red White & Blonde (PG)". British Board of Film Classification. June 27, 2003. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c "Legally Blonde 2:Red, White and Blonde". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved July 13, 2015.
  3. ^ "Elle Woods as Barbie".
  4. ^ Nashawaty, Chris (December 22, 2007). "The 25 Worst Sequels Ever Made". Entertainment Weekly.
  5. ^ "Legally Blonde 2 - Red, White & Blonde". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  6. ^ "Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde". Metacritic. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  7. ^ "LEGALLY BLONDE 2 (2003) B". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on December 20, 2018.
  8. ^ Legally Blonde 2: Motion Picture Soundtrack (CD). Various Artists. Curb Records. 2003. D2-78822.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  9. ^ "Legally Blonde 2 - Original Soundtrack". Allmusic.com. Retrieved May 2, 2012.
  10. ^ "Legally Blonde 2 - Motion Picture Soundtrack: Various Artists: Music". Amazon.com. Retrieved September 27, 2011.
  11. ^ "iTunes - Music - We Can (Remixes) by LeAnn Rimes". Itunes.apple.com. October 28, 2003. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
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