Miss Congeniality film review

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MISS CONGENIALITY

Sandra Bullock has made a career of playing lovable goofballs, but even her undeniable charm and relentless energy in the role of an FBI agent sent undercover as a contestant in a Miss United States pageant can't overcome a horrible script that would insult the intelligence of any beauty queen.

Indeed, by the end any surplus of affection Bullock had amassed coming into Miss Congeniality had evaporated, as her character's inept bumbling became just plain annoying, leaving us to speculate that perhaps it's time for her to find varied and more challenging roles.

On the trail of a terrorist known as 'The Citizen', FBI agent Eric Matthews (Benjamin Bratt) is given his first opportunity to lead an operation. Following a tip off that 'The Citizen' next planned to strike at the forthcoming Miss United States beauty pageant, Matthews assembles a team that includes Gracie Hart (Bullock). They figure the best way to gather information would be to infiltrate the pageant by posing one of their agents as a contestant. A paucity of likely candidates results in the choice of the unrefined and bedraggled Hart, whose initial appearance makes the pageant's organiser, Kathy Morningside (Candice Bergen), fear for the credibility of her beloved show.

The task of turning Hart from tomboy klutz to elegant and convincing beauty queen falls to the camp makeover master Victor Melling (Michael Caine). Despite Caine's valiant efforts, you find yourself peering through your fingers in embarrassment as the level of humour topples more often than Hart as she endeavours to master high heels. It's a strange choice for Caine who had become more discerning of late with regard to the roles he chooses.

Following her metamorphosis, Hart enters the contest as a replacement Miss New Jersey with a new look and new identity, becoming Gracie Lou Freebush. What follows is a tired and cliché packed depiction of life backstage at a beauty pageant, with the comedy being thinner than the contestants.

The whole plot concerning the Citizen seems to be forgotten as screenwriters Marc Lawrence and Katie Ford focus on milking Hart's Eliza Doolittle-style transformation and the affect it has on her colleague Matthews, who previously only offered her insults.