Review of Miss Congeniality

Introduction

A terrorist is planning on blowing up the beauty pageant so it`s upto the FBI to make sure this doesn`t happen. But how do you go undercover with a bunch of women? Who at the FBI would be the best person to go in? Why, Gracie Hart (Sandra Bullock) of course. She takes some persuading and is entered into the contest. But Gracie isn`t the most feminine, stylish or sophisticated female around. She hangs out with blokes so she acts just like one of the guys. How do you turn her into a contest hopeful? Get a consultant to help out, get Michael Caine in. Make her fit in and then the job of finding out who`s behind the terrorist threats should become easier.

Video

The 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer is very good. I couldn`t see any dirt or grain. There`s little sign of trouble at all with good detail coming through. The colour for the most part is good, but there are scenes where it seems a touch light and hence the blacks aren`t as black as it could be. There are scenes too which are rich in colour and well lit with a more balanced set of colours.

Audio

Good clear audio all the way. The film is mainly dialogue driven so this is produced nice and clearly from the front. The sound effects and music are well reproduced too. Just don`t expect to work out your surround sound system though.

Features

Nice looking static menus with some nice features. Cast/crew bios, two commentary tracks, two documentaries totalling 20 minutes and a trailer. `Preparing for the Pageant` and `The Pageant` are the documentaries here and is the usual PR deal with deleted scenes and outtakes. The director commentary track with Donald Petrie wasn`t very interesting at all; he has some interesting things to say, but he doesn`t sound enthusiastic about the film so I found it hard going to listen to.

The only feature worth its weight is the Sandra Bullock and Mark Lawrence commentary track; the banter back and forth is entertaining, moreso than the film itself, and Sandra is quite funny.

Don`t watch the trailer, it gives away too much and shows the more funnier moments before you`ve had a chance to enjoy them in the movie.

Conclusion

Sandra Bullock as an FBI agent turning into the gorgeous Miss Jersey for the beauty pageant to uncover a terrorist plot to blow it all up sounds interesting. Sadly I found the film lacking. The script is average and tries too hard to be funny with its physical comedy and one liners. There are some funny moments and I had to smile, but once you`ve seen Sandra fall over once, it`s not funny when she does it a second, third, fourth or fifth time. Okay, she proves that she`s good at falling over and being totally uncoordinated, what else can you do Sandra?

The story is predictable, and though it follows a formula, I found myself getting a little bored by the end of the film. The story, while lightweight, is a bit far fetched and dull; we know that she`ll figure out who the bad guys are and get them. We can sense that Benjamin Bratt as her FBI colleague has an attraction to her, but what else is there? This a fish out of water story with few thrills and romance. There are three writers credited here and it`s still dull.

Cast performances are okay and Michael Caine doesn`t have to try hard to be good, he`s a natural. But he`s wasted in a film like this. Sandra Bullock`s character just doesn`t interest me at all and I remain unenamored. In my opinion she seems to make average films and hasn`t made one good film since Speed. She`s a very capable actor and in real life is funny, intelligent and beautiful, so why can`t she make a decent film?

I guess you can tell that I wasn`t overly impressed with the film, there are only a few scenes that I found amusing and this film has a lot of other gags which simply don`t do it for me. The comedy is basic, unsophisticated and tries too hard.

Rent it if you`re curious and there`s nothing else interesting. In good faith I can`t recommend this movie at all for buying.