Reese Witherspoon gives a glittering performance as Elle Woods, the natural blonde sorority queen who enrolls at Harvard Law School. Expecting her boyfriend Warner Huntington III (Matthew Davis) to propose, Elle is mortified when instead he says he needs somebody serious as his wife. When Elle discovers Warner's brother is engaged to a law student, she discovers enrolling at Harvard might be the way to prove she is serious. She studies for the LSATs, submits a video essay - in which she appears in a sequined bikini - and, miraculously, is accepted. At first, Elle is rebuked by Professor Stromwell (Holland Taylor) and is the target of snide comments from other students. But, gradually, it becomes clear that Elle is no fish out of water; she is smarter, more driven, and more likely to survive in the rarefied Harvard atmosphere than anyone else.

Witherspoon gets fine support from Selma Blair as Warner's new fiancee, Jennifer Coolidge as a beautician, Victor Garber as an unscrupulous professor, Ali Larter as a client from Elle's sorority, and Luke Wilson as a lawyer fascinated by Elle's unconventional approach.