Elle is Pretty in Pink (her signature colour) but legally blonde. She is pert, energetic, and beloved in her sorority. She lives over the road from Aaron Spelling, and her parents want her to have, like, uh, an unboring, attractive, colour-co-ordinated life.

However our heroine is determined -- an iron will under the faux fur accessories, and a sharp intellect beneath the beautifully conditioned hair.

We follow Elle through her efforts to move from fashion merchandising in California to Harvard Law -- all to prove to the ever-smiling Warner that she is worth of him. Elle's adventure is the usual search for self and love, with her quest being the freedom from prison of her idol, the butt-busting sorority sister Taylor, wrongly accused of murder.

Elle proves herself to herself, her teachers and her fellow students, as we know she will. She conquers Warner and rises above him, which we expect, and becomes friends with those who dismissed her fluff, winning the heart of a worthy, supportive, intelligent male.

Legally Blonde is reminiscent of the original Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. Elle and Buffy are both pretty underachievers in a privileged world. Both have to reach and utilise their natural talents to realise their potential. Both become conscientious protectors of 'innocents'. Both find friends among the disdained, and both have a mighty weapon -- their keen fashion sense.

Watch out for Holland Taylor as a tough professor, not a mentor, but a challenger.

Legally Blonde is an innocuous comedy with values. It blends self-confidences through hard work and education with a celebration of feminine relationships, and good grooming.

Mercifully free of mushy love stuff, despite the obvious story line, Legally Blonde is an excellent film for all ages, and highly recommended for impressionable pre-teens.

Funny, heartwarming and life-affirming -- all favourite things.