06.26.03 - 10:53 a.m.

Warning: minor Legally Blonde 2 spoilers! (I can't believe I even typed that line.)

So. As the credits rolled, Kerry leaned over and said, "It was a little lacking." Which all sequels are, really, with the exception of Terminator 2 and possibly Toy Story 2. Hollywood finds it difficult to keep the same level of excitement in viewers without resorting to the same gags that hooked 'em the first time around. [See Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and Austin Powers in Goldmember for examples.] So of course, LB2 returns to the classic "ditz out of water" format that served the first movie so well.

Although it wasn't as surprising as the first one -- no lecherous Victor Garber, etc., and you KNOW she's gonna make it after all -- that's not what you're going to see. You're going to laugh at bright, bubbly pointy-chinned Reese, and the movie has it in spades. Many more spades than Cranky Home Alabama. The only semi-complaint I have is that there wasn't enough to do with the old characters, especially Paulette, although the new ones (especially Bob Newhart and Congressman Stan Marks, owner of the gay Rottweiler) are amusing. And there was definitely not enough Luke Wilson. It's mostly a showcase for Reese's cute pink clothes and shoes, but very satisfying and escapist. And cute. Did I mention cute?

I'm a little worried, though. The opening scene is of Elle's wedding shower, but the only people in attendance are her two best Delta Nu friends and Paulette. Doesn't a sorority girl AND successful law school graduate have more friends? Didn't she win everyone over last time? Everyone and their mother shows up for the wedding at the end, so it's just odd. You'd think a girl like that would have a bigger affair.

Oh, and I kept looking for Matt's street every time they swooped around the Capitol, but I don't think it made it onto celluloid. Shame.

Just yesterday I mentioned my desire to look at a copy of Everyday Food. (Yep, that's the right name.) Well, today's NYT tells me that it's expanding publication to 10 times a year. Hooray! I think.