--- name: "Robert Luketic" canonical: "https://film.one/person/robert-luketic" fi1m_id: "robert-luketic" imdb_id: "nm0525659" tmdb_id: 36797 wikidata_id: "Q721107" roles: ["Director"] born: "1 November 1973" reviewed_on_fi1m: 3 average_fi1m_score: 67 average_as: "director" average_over: 3 updated: "2026-10-05T11:32:44.833133+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Robert Luketic ## Identity Robert Luketic - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/robert-luketic - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** robert-luketic - **IMDb ID:** nm0525659 - **TMDB ID:** 36797 - **Wikidata ID:** Q721107 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Luketic, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q721107, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0525659/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/36797 Director. Born 1 November 1973 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. ## Details - **Work:** Director - **Born:** 1 November 1973, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia - **Active:** 2001–present - **Frequently works with:** [Karen McCullah](https://film.one/person/karen-mccullah.md) - **Average Fi1m score:** 67, as director, over 3 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 2000s 58 (2), 2020s 85 (1) - **Fi1m against the critics:** 67 to 64 across 3 titles - **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 1 under 60 - **Genres:** Comedy 2, Drama 1, Kids 1, Romance 1 - **Screen time:** 3 hours of reviewed films - **Box office:** $463m across 2 films with figures - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Luketic, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q721107, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0525659/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/36797 ## Streaming the US now - **Netflix:** [*The Baby-Sitters Club*](https://film.one/tv/the-baby-sitters-club.md) (85) - **HBO Max:** [*Legally Blonde*](https://film.one/film/legally-blonde.md) (78) - **Tubi:** [*The Ugly Truth*](https://film.one/film/the-ugly-truth.md) (39) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Robert Luketic > Robert Luketic is good at making a comedy’s heroine worth caring about, less reliable at making the jokes land. We like the warmth of *Legally Blonde*, but his faith in a leading performer can excuse slack timing. Elle Woods arrives at Harvard Law School with clothes that invite everyone to underestimate her, and *Legally Blonde* (2001) takes her side. Robert Luketic lets her want to be taken seriously without treating her taste as something she must outgrow. We warmed to Elle because Reese Witherspoon gives that determination wit, rather than merely asking us to find her sweet. Luketic’s affection for his heroine makes a predictable comedy worth an evening, though it cannot finish the jokes for him. Witherspoon is the crucial collaborator here, and the distinction between her work and the writing matters. Karen McCullah and Kirsten Smith give the jokes about school and status a clear target, but too many other passages depend on the audience already liking Elle. Luketic sometimes lets a comic point run on after the laugh has gone. A firmer cut would have helped without making the film any less kind. That feature debut led to the studio romantic comedies *Win a Date with Tad Hamilton* (2004) and *Monster-in-Law* (2005). *21* (2008), a drama about MIT card counters, brought a change of direction. *Killers* (2010) mixed romantic comedy with action and espionage, while *Paranoia* (2013) continued the genre experiments. His stated preference for beginning a scene with drama and adding comedy is a sensible one for these films. The pleasure in *Legally Blonde* comes partly from having Elle’s wish to be respected treated as reasonable, rather than as another opportunity to mock her. Later studio comedies, including *The Ugly Truth* (2009), have drawn criticism for being formulaic; the debut suggests how much a committed lead can do with familiar material. Start with Witherspoon and *Legally Blonde*, but allow for scenes that take longer to leave than they should. ## Biography Robert Luketic is an Australian film and television director. He grew up in Sydney and studied at the Victorian College of the Arts School of Film and Television in Melbourne. His short film *Titsiana Booberini* (1997) screened at festivals including Sundance and won awards, leading to his feature debut. Luketic directed the comedy *Legally Blonde* (2001), starring Reese Witherspoon. Subsequent feature films include *Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!* (2004), *Monster-in-Law* (2005), *21* (2008), *The Ugly Truth* (2009), *Killers* (2010) and *Paranoia* (2013). He has also directed episodes of series such as *Jane the Virgin*, *The Baby-Sitters Club* and *Schmigadoon!*. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, variety.com.* ## On Fi1m (3) - *The Baby-Sitters Club* (2020), Fi1m 85, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-baby-sitters-club.md) - *The Ugly Truth* (2009), Fi1m 39, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/the-ugly-truth.md) - *Legally Blonde* (2001), Fi1m 78, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/legally-blonde.md) ## Complete filmography (14) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Schmigadoon!* (2021), series, Director, Co-Executive Producer - *The Baby-Sitters Club* (2020), series, Director — Fi1m 85, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-baby-sitters-club.md) - *The Wedding Year* (2019), Director - *Jane the Virgin* (2014), series, Director - *Reclaim* (2014), Producer - *Paranoia* (2013), Director - *Killers* (2010), Director - *The Ugly Truth* (2009), Director — Fi1m 39, [page](https://film.one/film/the-ugly-truth.md) - *21* (2008), Director - *Monster-in-Law* (2005), Director - *Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!* (2004), Director - *Legally Blonde* (2001), Director — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/legally-blonde.md) - *Titsiana Booberini* (1997), Director, Writer - *Resurface*, Director ## Gallery - ![Robert Luketic](https://film.one/media/person/97514/gallery-730ba6327a8e.jpg) Robert Luketic — John Moore/Denver Actors Fund, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Robert_Luketic_%28cropped%29_at_Alamo_Drafthouse_Cinema.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![第27回 東京国際映画祭 ロバート・ルケティック ジェームズ・ガン (2014)](https://film.one/media/person/97514/gallery-bd72b8f7342a.jpg) 第27回 東京国際映画祭 ロバート・ルケティック ジェームズ・ガン (2014) — Dick Thomas Johnson from Tokyo, Japan, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/10/27th_Tokyo_International_Film_Festival-_Robert_Luketic_%26_James_Gunn_%2815017914134%29.jpg/1280px-27th_Tokyo_International_Film_Festival-_Robert_Luketic_%26_James_Gunn_%2815017914134%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Robert Luketic, Kirsten Smith, Karen McCullah and filmgoer Carla Kaiser Kotrc attend a Denver Actors Fund screening of the film. (2016)](https://film.one/media/person/97514/gallery-32a8fb7c0d56.jpg) Robert Luketic, Kirsten Smith, Karen McCullah and filmgoer Carla Kaiser Kotrc attend a Denver Actors Fund screening of the film. (2016) — John Moore/Denver Actors Fund, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e7/Robert_Luketic_Kirsten_Smith_and_Karen_McCullah_at_Alamo_Drafthouse_Cinema.jpg/1280px-Robert_Luketic_Kirsten_Smith_and_Karen_McCullah_at_Alamo_Drafthouse_Cinema.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Robert Luketic](https://film.one/media/person/97514/gallery-c64af375b09a.jpg) Robert Luketic — Image via TMDB - ![Robert Luketic](https://film.one/media/person/97514/gallery-dcc80329484d.jpg) Robert Luketic — Image via TMDB --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/robert-luketic