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Movies / On DVD / Miss Congeniality
Miss Congeniality

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Miss Congeniality (2000)

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Reviews Counted:112

Fresh:45

Rotten:67

Average Rating:5/10

Consensus: Though critics say Bullock is funny and charming, she can't overcome a bad script that makes the movie feel too much like a fluffy, unoriginal sitcom.

Runtime: 1 hr 49 mins

Genre: Comedies

Synopsis: The Miss United States Pageant, hallowed and revered home of American beauty for the past fifty years, has received a threat from one of the country's most infamous criminals, the "Citizen." The... The Miss United States Pageant, hallowed and revered home of American beauty for the past fifty years, has received a threat from one of the country's most infamous criminals, the "Citizen." The F.B.I. has been tracking this psychopath forever as his rampage of bombings, shootings and arson terrorizes the nation. This may finally be their chance to nab him.

The plan? Simple. Get one of their agents into the pageant, undercover, as a contestant. Fix the judging so she's on stage right to the end, in the "top five." Equip her with a state of the art surveillance equipment. Finding that agent? Not so simple.

A computer search of all available female agents turns out a decidedly unphotogenic group, except for Special Agent Gracie Hart (SANDRA BULLOCK). She looks terrific on the computer in a bathing suit; she might even fool everyone in an evening gown, especially if she puts a brush to her hair. But Gracie doesn't own a brush. Or a dress. Or high heels. Or as her fellow agent and head of the undercover operation, Eric Matthews (BENJAMIN BRATT) puts it; she's a "car wreck." And Gracie has no desire to join the ranks of what she refers to as a "bunch of bikini stuffers who only want world peace."

Which is why the Bureau hires beauty pageant consultant Victor Melling (MICHAEL CAINE) to transform Gracie -- or as he re-names her, "Dirty Harriet" into Gracie Lou Freebush -- the perfect pageant contestant. Henry Higgins had a day at the beach compared to what Vic is up against in beautifying a woman "without a detectable smidgen of estrogen." But the fate of the pageant hangs in the balance, and considering that Gracie's refusal to follow orders has already placed her job in jeopardy, this may be her last chance to make it in her beloved Bureau. [More]

Starring: Sandra Bullock, Candice Bergen, Michael Caine, William Shatner

Starring: Sandra Bullock, Candice Bergen, Michael Caine, William Shatner, Benjamin Bratt, Ernie Hudson, Heather Burns, Steve Monroe, John DiResta, Wendy Raquel Robinson, Deirdre Quinn

Director: Donald Petrie

Director: Donald Petrie
Screenwriter: Marc Lawrence, Caryn Lucas, Katie Ford
Producer: Sandra Bullock
Composer: Edward Shearmur
Studio: Warner Bros.

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Reviews for Miss Congeniality

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1 - 20 (sorted by source; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 >> >|
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If you're expecting action and comedy, you'll find this film has little of either.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
04/16/01
Nick Cramp
Nick Cramp
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A genuine crowdpleaser boasting a charming star turn, Miss Congeniality is indeed difficult to dislike, but hey, sometimes it's worth the effort.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
03/23/01
William Thomas
William Thomas
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Bullock has such excellent timing, and such a superb sense of physical comedy, that we would happily watch her (and we have!) in much worse films than this.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
12/10/01
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

While there may not be many surprises, there's little to dislike either.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Derek Adams
Derek Adams
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A movie that seems to have no potential at all and still works remarkably well.

Full Review Source: UK Critic | comment Comment
06/04/01
Ian Waldron-Mantgani
Ian Waldron-Mantgani
UK Critic

The title refers to the Miss America pageant award given to "the person who was nicest to everyone," and this seems perfectly apt for Bullock’s winning performance.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
10/30/02
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

Only a real diva can pack mace and a gun under her evening gown and still look good.

Full Review Source: 3BlackChicks Review | comment Comment
02/07/01
Kamal  'The Diva' Larsuel
Kamal 'The Diva' Larsuel
3BlackChicks Review

There are many great actresses working in film today, but few of them have the flair for comedy that Bullock does.

Full Review Source: Aisle Seat | comment Comment
03/19/01
Mike McGranaghan
Mike McGranaghan
Aisle Seat

A light-as-a-feather comedy that’s neither ambitious nor particularly original.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
02/07/01
Brian Webster
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide

Truly, we have mined the beauty pageant satire to death, have we not?

comment Comment
12/21/00
Christy Lemire
Christy Lemire
Associated Press

It's a measure of [Bullock's] comic talent that she makes this creamy slip of a film as genuinely engaging as it is.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
02/07/01
Marc Savlov
Marc Savlov
Austin Chronicle

Rent Drop Dead Gorgeous if you want to see how a funny movie on the beauty pageant world is done! This is all formula.

Full Review Source: Blunt Review | comment Comment
02/26/01
Emily Blunt
Emily Blunt
Blunt Review

Doesn't exactly turn things around for [Bullock], but it's funny enough and agreeable enough to at least start her on the road back.

comment Comment
12/22/00
Jay Carr
Jay Carr
Boston Globe
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
03/24/02
Boston Phoenix

Things get as shaky as Grace adjusting to high heels when her warranted contempt for her vapid competitors is worn down by nothing more than superficial bonding at a giggly pizza party.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
12/20/00
Christine James
Christine James
Boxoffice Magazine

Assures us that a silk purse can be made from a sow's ear, but that's never true for a bad script.

comment Comment
12/22/00
Lawrence Toppman
Lawrence Toppman
Charlotte Observer

It isn't bad so much as it lacks any ambition to be more than it so obviously is.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
12/22/00
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

With Bullock, you don't have time to wrap your mind around the notion that she's a butt-kicking tomboy before she's reverted to her trademark cutesy-poo act.

comment Comment
12/21/00
Mark Caro
Mark Caro
Chicago Tribune

Sandra Bullock gives her regular-gal aura a serious workout in Miss Congeniality as an ugly-duckling FBI agent transformed into a beauty-pageant swan. And, by gum, she pulls it off.

Full Review Source: Cincinnati Enquirer | comment Comment
10/15/02
Margaret A. McGurk
Margaret A. McGurk
Cincinnati Enquirer

Mais um ponto para Sandra Bullock, que prova merecer, assim como sua personagem, o título de Miss Simpatia.

Full Review Source: Cinema em Cena | comment Comment
05/31/02
Pablo Villaca
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by source; UK critics are listed first)
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Latest News for Miss Congeniality

July 18, 2005: In Other News: Marital Edition...Jude Law, Sandra Bullock, and Frankie Muniz
In Other News is back, with marital highs and lows alike to keep you gossip-mongers happy...starting with "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" star Jude Law, whose... More...

June 16, 2005: In Other News...Sandra Bullock, Kirsten Dunst, and Brangelina
"Crash" star Sandra Bullock is speeding along the way to wedded bliss -- US Weekly reports she has set a date with boyfriend Jesse James to marry next month. More...

March 26, 2005: Box Office: “Guess Who” Topped The Box Office?
Two comedies battled for box office supremacy this Easter weekend and the interracial romantic comedy “Guess Who,” starring Ashton Kutcher and Bernie Mac, handily defeated “Miss... More...

March 24, 2005: Critical Consensus: "Miss Congeniality" Armed, But Unfabulous
It’s been a while since Sandra Bullock’s last appearance on the big screen – 2002’s romantic comedy hit, “Two Weeks Notice,” co-starring Hugh Grant. She returns with “Miss... More...

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