Lexi Minetree is perfectly cast and portrays Elle with kindness, optimism and smarts.Jessica Brooks/Supplied
The worst thing about Prime Video’s new younger-skewing series Elle is that it doesn’t feel like a Legally Blonde prequel. On paper it is, but in reality it erases everything that made the 2001 Reese Witherspoon-starring film so special.
Elle stars Lexi Minetree as the titular character, with Tom Everett Scott and June Diane Raphael on board as her parents, Wyatt and Eva Woods. When plastic surgeon Wyatt is ostracized after botching a nose job, the family flees Bel-Air and heads to rainy Seattle. There, Elle begins high school among the grunge, Nirvana-loving crowd, who doesn’t immediately buy her pink princess act. That’s particularly true for local bully Kimberly, played by Chandler Kinney, whom younger fans will recognize from Disney’s Zombies franchise.
Like Legally Blonde, this is about a young girl figuring out her place in the world while battling stereotypes and finding her voice. Unfortunately, it throws all movie and book canon out the window. Elle Woods is supposed to be a character who grew up in a small, privileged corner of the world and had no exposure to outside influences.
Like Legally Blonde, this is about a young girl figuring out her place in the world while battling stereotypes and finding her voice.Jessica Brooks/The Associated Press
By moving her to Seattle and forcing her to cope with these situations as a teen, the TV show rewrites who this character is. The whole point of the film is that Elle Woods arrives at Harvard blissfully unaware of how everyone else sees her. She’s optimistic at her core, not because life has forced her to be. It’s a direct contradiction to the character fans have loved for years, one that spawned two sequels, a Broadway musical and a reality show.
If you’ve been disappointed by other Prime Video offerings, such as Lord of the Rings, Every Year After or A League of Their Own, the approach feels familiar: take a beloved property, change its DNA and hope nostalgic audiences come along for the ride. But reinventing a character’s past isn’t the same thing as deepening it.
Witherspoon stepping in as an executive producer is also disappointing, given the inevitable expectations that come with her involvement. Add in several Easter egg nods to the original movie, and the show never lets audiences forget that these are supposed to be the same characters.
The good news is that if you aren’t a die-hard movie fan and can get past the discrepancies in the series, Elle is still a fun and light show that fits right in with Prime Video’s current young-adult library.
Minetree is perfectly cast and portrays Elle with kindness, optimism and smarts. In Seattle she may be the underdog, but she isn’t willing to compromise who she is to fit in. It’s a solid character for a new generation of young women to look up to, with plenty of nineties nods and references for the older generation to still get a kick out of watching.
Elle Woods is a solid character for a new generation of young women to look up to.Jessica Brooks/The Associated Press
The visual contrast between Elle’s bright world and gloomy Seattle, established in the opening credits, gives the series a unique look, while the soundtrack is packed with nineties bangers from Oasis and Pearl Jam to Lisa Loeb and No Doubt.
Co-showrunners Caroline Dries and Laura Kittrell do a decent job of expanding the world of characters, particularly when it comes to Elle’s mom. Raphael is also perfectly cast and adds an adult perspective to the difficulties of unexpectedly fitting in and starting over while trying to be a good parent.
When it comes to the high school characters, they lean heavily toward Mean Girls, however, with references to cafeteria seating hierarchies, bullying and a weird friend whom everyone else ignores. It’s comforting because it’s familiar, but the writers aren’t exactly breaking any molds either.
That’s especially true when Elle falls for her new friend’s boyfriend, Miles (Jacob Moskovitz), and fights her feelings because she’s trying to be a good person. The series leans heavily into that conflict for far too many episodes rather than giving Elle meaningful challenges or growth opportunities.
By the time the eight-episode series wraps, you feel like you’ve spent time with a new – and likeable – heroine, but she isn’t the Elle Woods you’ve previously imagined. Get rid of the Legally Blonde branding and this is a pleasant coming-of-age story with a great lead, an interesting cinematic look and a killer soundtrack.
Just don’t mistake it for Elle Woods’s origin story.