Miss Congeniality (2000): Dir: Donald Petrie / Cast: Sandra Bullock, Benjamin Bratt, Michael Cain, William Shatner, Candice Bergen: Comedy about divert personality with F.B.I. agent Sandra Bullock. She is assigned to go undercover as Miss New Jersey due to a bomb threat. Enter Michael Caine as an image consultant set to get her ready. Major flaw regards predicting the villain, which the screenwriter makes no attempt to conceal. Pointless action opener hits formula full force. Director Donald Petrie is backed by colorful sets but he is dealing with material that has been done to death. The pageant theme was done far better and funnier in the underrated Drop Dead Gorgeous. Petrie previously made The Associate as well as the low grade My Favorite Martian crap fest. Bullock is funny and certainly present humour but she is introduced in a standard opening then we are suppose to believe that she is hot or not due too her outfit. Caine is also a capable actor but his role as the consultant is pretty standard. Benjamin Bratt plays a moron cop who couldn't see past the makeup. He will notice Bullock in the aftermath, which is pretty typical of these films. William Shatner is featured to overact and he does so non stop, as well as Candice Bergen as a former pageant winner who is less of a winner here. Satire of pageants bludgeoned in blatant contrivance. Score: 4 / 10

Miss Congeniality finds Sandra Bullock as FBI Agent Gracie Hart, who must go undercover in the Miss United States beauty pageant to prevent a psychopath from committing untold homicide.The premise is simple, it's a Pygmalion/My Fair Lady scenario that transforms the rough and tough Gracie into a viable contestant for the pageant. Thus we have all the comedy that comes with her literally battling everyone, including her own opinions on pageants, as she is being asked to be something she doesn't believe is in her make up. The mystery of who the killer is who's on the loose is strong for a good portion of film, and even once it's known and drama takes centre stage, it's still hard to get the smile off of your face. The jokes are plentiful, with Bullock finding chemistry with all of her co-stars. She's a very under valued comedy actress, and her ability to bond with an entire cast is marvellous to observe. Reference sexual tension with Benjamin Bratt, the jousting hostilities with Ernie Hudson, the way she bounces off of the other beautiful girls, and best of all the by-play with Michael Caine, who is playing a camp stylist and walks in to lift the laughter roof off the rafters in every scene he is in.It doesn't push the boundaries of comedy, but it's thankfully a consistently funny piece of work, aided by a super cast on form who make a better comedy out of what the screenplay suggested it had any right to be. 7/10

All right, I admit it. I really admire Sandra Bullock.Heck! I even added her to my Blockbuster Video account (back when there was a Blockbuster Video) as an authorized user, just in case she ever wanted to rent a movie and didn't have any cash on hand.Miss Congeniality is typical "Fish-out-of-Water" comedy, with one big difference. They happened to have cast the perfect person to play the "Fish", and the resulting film surpasses all other films of the same entertaining format.Her down-to-earth attitude, sharp wit, good looks, physical and acting skills pulls off this role as no other actress could have done.A perfect example of what happens when making a movie, any type of movie, when everything and everyone meshes together.If you ever what to just sit down, relax, escape your own troubles and just enjoy the next couple of hours, watch this movie.

Sandra Bullock's facial expressions, physical comedy, comedic timing, and great lines: Ditto for Michael Caine. Not a great movie, but very good, and those two performances, plus Shatner's as the emcee, make it a very worthwhile movie. When movies like Anchorman get a 7.2 by comparison, I feel like I'm somewhat alien to this planet......Keep forgetting that being concise on this website is not an attribute, so I'll digress. Humor is subjective, so everyone has their own, equally valid opinion, but IMHO Sandra nailed it, was at the height of her comedic prowess in this movie, and it will stand up over time not so much as a great movie (not), but a great performance by Bullock.