Miss Congeniality (2000)

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 F.B.I. has been tracking this psychopath forever as his rampage of bombings, shootings and arson... 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]