Miss Congeniality (2000)

Miss Congeniality (2000)

5/10

Starring

Sandra Bullock

Michael Caine

Benjamin Bratt

Candice Bergen

William Shatner

Ernie Hudson

Directed by Donald Petrie

This movie was much better when I saw it back in 2000. Seeing it now, I can only say that it seems like it was made for people who have nothing better to do on a Sunday. The whole plot feels like you're watching an unaired TV series. It's disjointed, and the movie seems unsure of its pace. There are times when things are all fired up and moving, and then there are times when it feels like nothing much is happening. I don’t know if the problem is that, I took the movie too seriously, and expect it to live up to the feeling I had seeing it back in the 2000s.

The romance was so obvious. The pair didn’t fit in my view, and their story—leading to them falling for one another—felt like a rejected, bad draft of a romance novel.

I won’t deny that the movie has its funny moments, but if you want to sit through it again, just know it’s ten minutes shy of two hours. It’s so long that I can see plenty of areas that could have been cut, and the movie would still deliver the same message.

With such a bad script, Sandra Bullock (who solely produced this film) did very well in her role. She plays Gracie, a tomboy working for the FBI, who has some issues following orders, which lands her on desk duty at the Bureau.

The agency is alerted by a letter from a known terrorist called "The Citizen" that a bomb will be placed at the upcoming Miss U.S.A. beauty pageant. Gracie's partner is put in charge, and based on Gracie’s suggestion to plant an undercover agent at the event, Gracie happens to be the agent. She is arranged to replace Miss New Jersey, who is to be disqualified.

So, Gracie is prepped to be the new Miss New Jersey, and soon we discover there’s more going on at the pageant than what meets the eye. Gracie has to go against orders to uncover the person behind the letters and stop them.

Other than Bullock, everyone else in the movie gave an average performance, as expected. Even Michael Caine, who initially portrayed a gay character, seemed to forget about that aspect as the movie went on.

The movie was a financial hit, which led to a sequel five years later called Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous. Bullock’s performance even earned her a Golden Globe Award nomination.