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The first film worked so well because it was a voyage of discovery as Elle realises that she's not as dumb a blonde as she thought she was. Here it's all plot, so it's not nearly as engaging. And the first half of the film is so story-heavy that it drags badly. Fortunately, once the film kicks into gear, it is hilarious fun, throwing witty one-liners at the audience in rapid succession, while Witherspoon develops Elle's character without ever abandoning her essence (she still comes across as a bubble-headed valley girl). Director Herman-Wurmfeld (Kissing Jessica Stein) is efficient if uninspired, but Kondell's script has a few terrific twists--mostly silly gags that are at least laugh-out-loud funny. And the supporting cast entertains us with gratuitous subplots galore, although poor Wilson was almost written out of the film! The big climactic scene is rather painful with its idealistic patriotism (yawn), and the whole DC scene is more than a little contrived and unrealistic. But it will keep you chuckling as long as you don't think about it much. In other words: as long as you don't engage with the film any more deeply than a dumb blonde. Oops.