   legally blonde is a 2001 american comedy film directed by robert luketic, written by karen mccullah lutz and kirsten smith, and produced by marc e. platt. it is based on a novel by amanda brown. the film stars reese witherspoon as a sorority girl who struggles to win back her ex-boyfriend by earning a law degree, along with luke wilson as a young attorney she meets during her studies, matthew davis as her ex-boyfriend, selma blair as his new fiancÃ©e, victor garber and holland taylor as law professors, jennifer coolidge as a manicurist, and ali larter as a fitness instructor, who was once her friend, accused of murder. in america, the film was released on july 13, 2001, and received generally positive reviews. it was nominated for a golden globe award for best motion picture: musical or comedy and was ranked 29th on bravo's 2007 list of "100 funniest movies". for her performance, witherspoon received a golden globe nomination for best actress â motion picture musical or comedy and the 2002 mtv movie award for best female performance. the film's box-office success led to a 2003 sequel, [[legally blonde 2: red, white & 
2000s_comedy_films 2001_films American_comedy_films American_legal_films Directorial_debut_films English-language_films Feminist_films Films_about_fraternities_and_sororities Films_based_on_novels Films_directed_by_Robert_Luketic Films_set_in_California Films_set_in_Massachusetts Harvard_Law_School Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer_films