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When a notorious criminal mastermind known only as the Citizen threatens to terrorize the Miss United States Pageant, the FBI scours their ranks to find a female agent capable of winning the contest and capturing the killer before it's too late. Special Agent Gracie Hart (Sandra Bullock) may be the most physically beautiful woman in the Bureau, but her tomboyish lack of feminine grace jeopardizes the plan and spells disaster. Forced to turn to the once-proud beauty pageant consultant Victor Melling (Michael Caine), Agent Eric Matthews (Benjamin Bratt) tries to accomplish the impossible goal of transforming Hart from an unrefined rogue to a model candidate of elegance, poise, and style, with the irresistible power to win the pageant and simultaneously catch the killer. MISS CONGENIALITY combines the hilarious physical comedy and girl-next-door charm of Bullock with Caine's trademark British wit and impotent outrage, adding up to plenty of comedy, glamour, and catastrophe. |
Sandra Bullock returns to form in this energetic comedy from director Donald Petrie that focuses on the world of beauty pageants. When a terrorist threatens the Miss United States competition, Bullock's determinedly unfeminine FBI agent is drafted in as a contestant. Pampered and preened by contest expert Michael Caine (who doesn't allow his campness to stray into caricature), Bullock uncovers her own feminine side and has some of her preconceptions shattered. Her relationship with FBI colleague Benjamin Bratt sparkles with sexual chemistry and the gags come thick and fast. The antics of the competition's hosts, Candice Bergen and William Shatner, are slightly overplayed, but on the whole this is great fun.
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Halliwell's Film Guide
A broad comedy of a familiar kind with a few good laughs among the pratfalls.