Film Review - Miss Congeniality

I honestly didn't expect much from this film. I've been disappointed with Sandra Bullock's more recent films (Speed 2, Hope Floats, 28 Days). And to think that I once wanted to have her baby.

Miss Congeniality is a better film than one would expect. Bullock plays a well-intentioned FBI agent who is in the dog house for making a mistake during an arrest. She's smart and thinks she has cracked the next target of a notorious bomber, the problem is that she's in that dog house and is being punished with paperwork.

But when the FBI needs a woman to go undercover at a beauty pageant, guess who gets fingered? Bullock's character has nothing but contempt for the pageant and anyone involved with it. But over the course of the film, comes to make some friends.

Where Bullock shines is in her comedic abilities. There's very good comedy here. Bullock, playing it straight as she did in Demolition Man, has dead on timing. This makes the movie.

I also wanted to point out the performance of Candice Bergen who played the Pageant director. Bergen was so buried in the role, I kept trying to figure out who that actress was for half the film. She was very convincing and un-expected in the role. The only person better than Bergen was Michael Caine playing a gay man. You've got to see this.

As I said, an unexpected pleasure. I'd rate it higher, but William Shatner was just horrible!

Jammed Pipe!

Film Facts

Directed by Donald Petrie

Released in 2000

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Reviewed by Mongo