Movie Review: Miss Congeniality (2000)
Synopsis: When a domestic terrorist known as "the Citizen" makes a threat against a well-known beauty pageant in Texas, the FBI decides it needs an operative on the inside, posing as a contestant. This ends up being the tomboyish Gracie Hart, who reluctantly goes through a transformation to show off her feminine side.
Who's in it? The movie stars Sandra Bullock, Michael Caine, Benjamin Bratt, Candice Bergen, Ernie Hudson and William Shatner.
Review: My wife and I had some time to kill yesterday evening while waiting for our daughter to get done at a community theater cast party. Since it was way too hot to be outside, we stayed in front of the air conditioner and re-watched Miss Congeniality for the first time in years. It ended up being as good as we remembered it.
I'll start out by saying the movie does force you to suspend belief a bit because the idea of Sandra Bullock being considered "ugly" is only something that is going to happen in the movies. Frankly, the most unbelievable thing in this film is the fact her character, Gracie, wasn't the first choice and her coworkers seemed surprised she'd look good in a swimsuit.
That aside, the movie does a good job with the material. The pageantry scene is portrayed in a comical light while giving the various competitors quite a bit of respect. Plus, it was fun seeing Gracie's transformation into a believable contestant while still leaving just enough of herself in the character, including her inability to walk in heels.
I also thought the investigation part of it was as entertaining as the pageant scenes. While it was pretty obvious who the bad guy was, the film did at least give a little bit of an attempt at creating red herrings and ultimately puts Gracie in a position where she's on her own (though the circumstances that lead to that are a bit unbelievable too). The movie's climax scene is as funny as I remembered it being, helped a lot by William Shatner's character, Stan Fields, continuing through his monologue as everything was going to heck around him.
My biggest complaint about this movie is it doesn't provide a whole lot of closure as far as Gracie's future with the FBI is concerned. She may have ended the movie as a hero, but that didn't erase the fact she was facing disciplinary action for nearly getting one of her team killed and defied orders just to stay in the pageant. While I'd like to think one would result in the others being overlooked, it does seem a bit open ended and probably should have been addressed.
Final Opinion: It's a fun and entertaining movie my wife and I both enjoyed re-watching.
My Grade: A
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