Reese Witherspoon: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked

3. Elle Woods - Legally Blonde (2001)

Legally Blonde marked a turning point in Witherspoon's career. Here she starred as Elle Woods, a fashion-merchandising major who decides to become a law student in order to follow her ex-boyfriend to Harvard Law School. Elle may be a squeaky-voiced shopaholic bombshell, but she's no dummy. Determined to win back her undeserving man, she actually does gain admittance to Harvard. There she discovers a student body of pale-faced young adults in dark clothes who hold her blondness and her taste in clothes against her and a faculty of imperious professors with patrician accents. But our heroine turns out to have a steel-trap legal mind, lots of common sense and a good heart. Witherspoon, once again, skillfully plays against her looks. And, as the movie repeatedly points out, that's hard to do when you're blonde. The actress makes Elle such an engaging, effervescent personality you can't take your eyes off of her. Witherspoon is quite literally a force of nature, elevating what could have easily been a disaster into a solid piece of entertainment and an unforgettable character.