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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.

Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for sexual references and a scene of violence

Runtime: 1 hr 49 mins

Genre: Comedies

Theatrical Release:Dec 22, 2000 Wide

Box Office: $105,541,467

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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Release:

May 1, 2001

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Reviews for Miss Congeniality

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41 - 60 (sorted by date)
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In producing Miss Congeniality, [Bullock has] cast herself ideally, so as to show off her tomboyish giddiness, with a hint of sexy brashness.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia City Paper | comment Comment
02/07/01
Cynthia Fuchs
Cynthia Fuchs
Philadelphia City Paper

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

Although the script grants its leading lady some snappy verbal and physical humor, the film flickers and dies under a surfeit of stereotypes and one critical piece of ill-judged casting.

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
02/07/01
Lesley M. Smith
Lesley M. Smith
PopMatters

A confused mess that's partly funny and partly boring.

Full Review Source: Laramie Movie Scope | comment Comment
01/01/01
Robert Roten
Robert Roten
Laramie Movie Scope

It takes some doing to make a beauty pageant flick that features an intellectually vapid caper plot while being a slap in the face to feminism.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
12/27/00
James Brundage
James Brundage
Filmcritic.com

It's one thing to be far-fetched -- we'll put up with a lot in a broad comedy -- but it's quite another to be so absurd as to render the film utterly unbelievable.

Full Review Source: EricDSnider.com | comment Comment
12/27/00
Eric D. Snider
Eric D. Snider
EricDSnider.com

Pro forma hilarity.

comment Comment
12/22/00
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Entertainment Weekly
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A rinky-dink comedy.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
12/22/00
Rita Kempley
Rita Kempley
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Despite the film's predictable trappings, Bullock shines, tackling the physical comedy with bodacious aplomb.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
12/22/00
E! Online

For Bullock fans, it's a delight, jolly junk in the season to be jolly.

Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment Comment
12/22/00
Susan Stark
Susan Stark
Detroit News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

There's something so friendly and unabashedly silly about this production that it pretty much won me over.

Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | comment Comment
12/22/00
Jay Boyar
Jay Boyar
Orlando Sentinel

Stuck in its sitcom-style take on an easy target for ridicule, director Donald Petrie chooses cutesy over clever.

Full Review Source: Oregonian | comment Comment
12/22/00
Kim Morgan
Kim Morgan
Oregonian

Decidedly inconsistent.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
12/22/00
Jeff Vice
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

Had the proceedings had more bite or intelligence to them -- let alone humor -- the film could have been far better.

Full Review Source: Screen It! | comment Comment
12/22/00
Jim Judy
Jim Judy
Screen It!

It's unlikely that Miss Congeniality will stem the backwards slide of Bullock's career momentum.

Full Review Source: Reel.com | comment Comment
12/22/00
Pam Grady
Pam Grady
Reel.com

Bullock is just plain funny.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
12/22/00
John Anderson
John Anderson
Newsday
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

[Caine's] performance is probably as deft as the one he gave last year in The Cider House Rules.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
12/22/00
Houston Chronicle

An ideal vehicle for Sandra Bullock, who just keeps proving she's one of the finest physical comediennes in Hollywood today.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
12/22/00
Louis B. Hobson
Louis B. Hobson
Jam! Movies

Petrie's formula of keeping it light and bright, and not too confusing, works.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
12/22/00
Bob Thompson
Bob Thompson
Jam! Movies

It's inoffensive, dim-witted fun.

Full Review Source: IFilm | comment Comment
12/22/00
Dave White
Dave White
IFilm
 
 
41 - 60 (sorted by date)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 >> >|
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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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