Written by Marc Lawrence, Katie Ford, and Caryn Lucas
Directed by Donald Petrie

Sandra Bullock is one of those actresses who hasn’t received the credit she deserves.  By all accounts, she’s a pleasure to work with, and she is quite versatile.  She manages to handle serious roles as well as comedic ones, giving enough heart to characters that they are much more than one-dimensional.

Miss Congeniality is certainly an example of that.  The role of Grace Hart could easily turn into a ridiculous caricature or cliché in the hands of a lesser actress.  Indeed, the whole premise of the film sounded completely ridiculous the first time I heard of it.

For those who don’t know, the Miss United States beauty pageant is under threat from an unknown source.  The FBI decides the best way to investigate is from the inside, and sends one of its best agents, Grace Hart, undercover.  However, if there was ever anyone who didn’t espouse all of the values of a beauty pageant contestant, that would be Grace Hart.  She’s tomboyish, awkward, and brash, but does her job well.  Grace has managed to take her natural inclinations towards tomboyishness as a child and transferred it successfully into a career in law enforcement. However, naturally those personality traits fit her career choice, though, the social awkwardness still remains.  After a Cinderella-like transformation, she’s sent along to the pageant in Texas as a replacement for Miss New Jersey.

I didn’t expect to like Miss Congeniality as much as I did.  In addition to Sandra Bullock, the rest of the cast works well too.  From William Shatner and Candice Bergen as two pageant officials who are trying to keep everything as “normal” as possible in the face of all that’s happening to Michael Caine as the sort of fairy godmother that must whip Grace into shape, they work well together.  Add in Benjamin Bratt as a love interest for Grace as well as her partner and it comes together much better than many other comedies seem to.

The DVD release has a bunch of extras that are good if you enjoy that sort of thing.  The only bit I found really interesting was the commentary featuring Sandra Bullock and Executive Producer and screenwriter Marc Lawrence.  Other than that, much of it isn’t so compelling that you would need to buy the disc over streaming it or catching it on a cable channel.

Right from the very cute opening scene on the playground that segues into the awkward tomboy as an adult, I thoroughly enjoyed Miss Congeniality.  I wasn’t expecting to. The storyline is predictable in many ways, but I still found myself enjoying it.  The cast really comes together quite well throughout the film and it’s a lot of fun if you can manage to suspend your disbelief a bit.



SPECIAL FEATURES:

• Commentary with Sandra Bullock and Executive Producer and Screenwiter Marc Lawrence
• Commentary with Director Donald Petrie
• Preparing for the Pageant
• The Pageant
• “Missing” Scenes
• Sneak Peek at Miss Congeniality 2
• Do You Have What It Takes to be a Beauty Queen? Quiz
• Theatrical Trailer