'BLONDE' COMPETENT, BUT NOT QUITE SUCCESSFUL.

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Critic

``Legally Blonde'' is delirious with its own hair-sprayed artificiality.

A strenuous effort to impose ``Clueless'' attitude on ``The Practice'' plot lines, the film operates in a perfumed - and, sometimes it seems, fume-inhaling - Neverland where dingbattedness is a virtue and narcissism aids critical thinking.

The film would be just another power fantasy for girls who think about boys and clothes too much if not for another astounding comic performance by Reese Witherspoon. Much as she did in ``Election'' a few years back, the actress explores a wealth of psychological quirks underneath the surface of what seems to be, at best, a two-dimensional object of ridicule. ``Legally Blonde'' isn't nearly as smart a movie as ``Election'' was, but it's a measure of Witherspoon's gifts and commitment that her own work here is no less nuanced and thought-through.

She plays Elle Woods, a blond (of course) Bel-Air princess who's the toast of her 99 percent blond (of course) sorority at one of L.A.'s finer universities - finer because it has a major in fashion merchandising, which Elle is, naturally, acing.

No reason why the future cover girl shouldn't have a picture-perfect love life, either. Which is what she and all her girlfriends think until the night Warner (Matthew Davis), her hunky steady from old, Back East money, is expected to propose but dumps her instead.

``I need a Jackie, not a Marilyn,'' he rationalizes, noting his plans for a political career.

``I grew up across the street from Aaron Spelling!'' she protests, certain of the logic in that statement.

``I need someone serious,'' Warner insists, then traipses off into the night for Harvard Law.

You can guess the rest. Elle somehow manages to get her own, pink- wrapped self into the prestigious graduate school (something about a Coppola directing her admissions video) in a go-for-broke effort to reclaim her man. But Warner's already engaged to a derisive, humorless brunette (of course) with a blue-blooded pedigree (Selma Blair). And those professors ... they're so demanding! (One is played, not unexpectedly, by ``Practice'' judge Holland Taylor).

Unpopular for the first time in her life, Elle is forced stay home and crack law books. And if it wasn't for a troubled but sympathetic local manicurist (Jennifer Coolidge) and that cute, helpful guy who knows all this tort stuff hanging around the campus (Luke Wilson), her well-dressed chihuahua would be the only soul she could count on for moral support.

Adapted by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith (``10 Things I Hate About You'') from a novel by blond (of course) lawyer Amanda Brown, the script is full of pseudo-hip dialogue and the usual effort to create a slangy argot of its own. ``Blonde'' is the feature directing debut of award-winning Australian short-film maker Robert Luketic, and he enjoys bright, poppy colors and lots of hair and wardrobe changes. All creatives are, in fact, mildly competent, the writers providing some good lines and the director exhibiting some staging and pacing know-how.

But the derivative nature of the endeavor, replete with its line-dance demonstration of the male-enticing bend-and-snap move and a costume party gag lifted directly out of ``Bridget Jones's Diary,'' tends to overwhelm its isolated moments of original wit. Ever cutesy and superficial, the film is too enamored of its heroine to ever make really good fun of her or convince us even fleetingly that she won't triumph in the end.

If Witherspoon wasn't playing Elle so well, you'd probably just hate the overprivileged little twit. And not just because she's beautiful.

``LEGALLY BLONDE''

(Rated PG-13: language)

The stars: Reese Witherspoon, Luke Wilson, Selma Blair, Matthew Davis, Victor Garber, Jennifer Coolidge, Ali Larter, Holland Taylor, Raquel Welch.

Behind the scenes: Directed by Robert Luketic. Written by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith, based on Amanda Brown's novel. Produced by Marc Platt. Released by MGM.

Running time: One hour, 36 minutes.

Playing: Citywide.

Our rating: Two and one half stars

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

Reese Witherspoon, right, with Shannon O'Hurley, Victor Garber and Luke Wilson in court in, ``Legally Blonde.''