Rating: 
Summary: Mind Candy with a "Girls Kick [posterior]" Message
Review: CAVEAT: My daughter loves this movie and has probably watched it over 100 times. I've managed to avoid most of them, but I've seen sections of it enough that my gut level reaction is to make a Frisbee out of the DVD. Having good impulse control, however, I don't.Now on to the movie itself--Basic plot: A beauty contest has been threatened and the FBI plants a female agent inside the contest. The agent, in spite of being female, has none of the "graces" expected of women. While she's great at unarmed combat and she groups her shots tightly on target, her ability to navigate in high heels and act "feminine" is lacking. This is supposed to be funny and exciting at the same time. I found it nearly amusing the first time around. Three major themes emerge in the movie: 1) self-esteem, 2) cultural expectations of women, and 3) a "terrorist" plot. The manifest story line (the "terrorist plot") does not shine brightly. Candace Bergen and Will Shatner should chide their agents for getting them involved in this one. If you want a good thriller that will keep you sitting on the edge of your chair, look elsewhere. This barely rates a single star. The second theme gives the movie a beautiful haze of irony. In a beauty pageant, cultural feminine expectations are most exaggerated. In this flick, we see this in sharp relief to Sandra Bullock's kick-[posterior]-tom-boy-macho approach to life. Although the pressure is on for Sandra to conform, she negotiates her own solution, finds her own way of being, confronting and subverting the expectations placed upon her. In the end, her nonconformity saves the day. I'm glad my daughter has chosen this movie to watch repeatedly. I want her to have the message that cultural (or boy friend) expectations can be challenged and subverted. I want her to have the courage to think for and be herself. Which brings us to the final theme--self-esteem. Bullock's character is the most transformed during this story. She goes from feeling inferior about her femininity to owning it in her own way. What a great gender message! Unfortunately, the vehicle is corny, trite, and mostly annoying after the first viewing... One and a half stars for content. The acting isn't bad, and I love the themes, boosting it to three stars, which is really more than it deserves as entertainment...
Rating:
Summary: even when she's ugly, she's beautiful
Review: Sandra, Sandra, Sandra ... even when she tries to look bad, she looks beautiful! And I'm sorry, but even I got a stiffy when she walks out of the airplane hangar ... and I'm a girl! LOL A fine, funny film - really terrific!
Rating: 
Summary: Never a Dull Moment
Review: Sandra Bullock is an FBI agent that shuns any feminine definition about herself. Now she needs to go undercover in a "Beauty Pageant". because someone has threatened to plant a bomb there. She's devastated that she needs to be transformed into what she shuns. She directed this movie. At one point she decides she is going to quit, but stays. Then stays when all of the other FBI people think they found the bomber and she does not believe it. She doesn't even know how to put on make up and the man who transformed her was ordered to leave also. She completely sees a different side to the program at that point and has made a lot of friends that she wants to make sure do not get hurt. The costumes worn to look like the statue of liberty are unique, (I'd love a dress like that,) and the music is better than I have ever heard on TV for a Pageant. The acting is great, my seven year old loves the movie as much as I do. She never stops being an agent, dedicated to why she was there, once she gets over the process of needing to act like a lady. She's funny, serious, but gets the job done she was sent there to do with the help of two people that come back who believe in her. The climax at the end is full of action, and there is never a moment of boredom in this movie. Mrs Symmington
Rating:
Summary: Actually Funny
Review: I avoided watching Miss Congeniality for a long time, because I had been just tired of all the stupid, supposedly funny, movies coming out in the last few years. Miss Congeniality didn't seem to promise anything better. Boy, was I wrong! Miss Congeniality has a great premise: tough, clutzy female FBI agent goes undercover at a beauty pagent and is put through makeover hell to prepare for her assignment. With Sandra Bullock as the FBI agent and Micheal Caine playing her gay makeover magician, it is nothing short of hilarious. The movie is full of gags and will keep you laughing the whole time. Best of all, the humor isn't dirty or gross, a welcome change after the Austin Powers type movies that seem to be dominate lately. Get Miss Congeniality, you won't be disappointed. It's funny, not gross, and things even blow up. What more could you want?
Rating:
Summary: Heh.
Review: Even my husband loves this video. Can you blame him? He thinks he's married to the layman's Sandra. How could I not love that he likes this flick. This is a rare perfect date movie, especially when you get to the scene where Sandra includes Mr. Bratt in her pageant talent. Just sing! For the female Sandra tangent, in addition to this I recommend Hope Floats and 28 Days. And Practical Magic, if you don't mind book-to-movie transcendence. (Because I recommend both, book and movie. Ditto for Ya Ya, but only if you are a Sandra Diehard and have read the book already.) I'm typing this while watching Hope Floats, and I plan to pop Congeniality in when this is finished. I'm on a 3-week work vacation, and Sandra is a great companion. It works for me.
Rating:
Summary: Really enjoyable
Review: I don't know why I waited so long to watch this movie. It's a very entertaining comedy. This movie had me cracking up and I defiently would watch it again. It would even be OK for the whole family to watch. Seeing how it's hard to rent any movies that the whole family ranging from young to old can watch at one time. New ones are getting harder and harder to find.
Rating: 
Summary: Bullock and Caine spar for the Crown
Review: This is a funny, wonderful "Pretty Woman/My Fair Lady" story. The twist here is that our heroine, Gracie Hart (Sandra Bullock), is a smart, tough F.B.I. agent who does NOT want to be transformed. Bullock is entirely believable as the smart, gawky ugly duckling who becomes more gracious, MUCH more attractive, but still has a goofy laugh, messy hair, and no idea how to apply makeup. Benjamin Bratt is weak as her coworker and love interest. Michael Caine is brilliantly funny as her makeover guru. Candace Bergen and William Shatner are good in their cartoonish supporting roles as pageant organizer and pageant emcee. The story is that Hart has to go undercover at a beauty pageant to catch a notorious serial killer. She doesn't want to AT ALL. She resists most of the way through the pageant. Michael Caine has the thankless job of trying to transform her in very short order from a "cow-masticating" tomboy geek into a believable beauty pageant contestant. The interplay between Bullock and Caine is what makes the movie worth watching. This is a wonderful movie because Hart doesn't give up her soul or her values in her transformation from duckling to swan. (Her "talent" performance in the pageant shows you this in very clear terms.) All that happens to her is she becomes more comfortable with her feminine side and she learns to appreciate other smart, ambitious women who are also beautiful and know how to take advantage of that fact. There is no serious, deep message in this film, and if you abhor beauty pageants, you probably won't like it, but if you want to see a funny, goofy, endearing performance by Bullock and a brilliant, sardonic performance by Caine, you should get this movie. It is well worth repeat viewing.
Rating:
Summary: Chick film Action Adventure film hybrid!
Review: Eurika! It has finally been done! This movie has enough action and adventure to keep the males happy, and enough of a plot, and deep enough characters to keep women happy. When they are busy on character development, the men are distracted by the great array of beautiful women on the screen that they won't notice that the movie has a plot. It has elements of "Pygmalion", or "My Fair Lady", in the transformation of a crass, masculine Sandra Bullock to a knock-out beauty. Michael Caine is absolutely hysterical as a Henry Higgin sort of fellow. He does such a splendid job, and is horrified at what he must accomplish, and with what. Candace Bergen must have had a blast with her role here. Emotions AND gun play in the same film? Yes, and it works.
Rating:
Summary: Light Entertaining Flick, with a Few Quibbles...
Review: Miss Congeniality is the story of unkempt FBI agent Gracie Hart (Sandra Bullock). Gracie, a tomboy, having botched her most recent case for the FBI, is forced to go undercover at a beauty pageant contestant or risk losing her job. Gracie, a shaggy haired, (sorry, I seriously doubt the FBI would allow you to wear your hair down and unbrushed, umm, hello? Dress Code?) is a men's-clothing wearing nerd, and is also the most clumsy woman in the FBI . She seems destined for fail her new assignment until she falls into the hands of Victor Melling(Michael Caine), Beauty pageant contestant consultant. With Melling's help, Gracie manages to beautify herself and learn to compete, thus proving to herself and others, she 'has what it takes' to be Miss America. I found Miss Congeniality to be a entertaining, funny light drama, despite its obvious message: "You must be beautiful to be someone." I disliked the fact that her male co-worker was only interested in her AFTER she had her makeover. (How shallow is that, and what kind of message does that send?) Despite this obvious misogynistic overtones, I really did liked this flick. Bullock did a great job of portraying Gracie in both the 'before and after' phases and it was fun to see William Shatner co-star as the contestant host. If you don't read too much into this movie, it was pleasantly entertaining, flick, perfect to watch on a rainy day.
Rating:
Summary: Great Movie! Hilarious!
Review: This movie is great but i wouldn't recommend it to anyone over 25. It's one if those movies that you can watch over and over again.
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