Miss Congeniality

Updated June 26, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

Miss Congeniality is a forgettable film starring Sandra Bullock, a veteran specialist in the genre. She plays FBI homebody Gracie Hart. Gracie requires a serious makeover by old queen Victor (Michael Caine) so that she can enter the Miss America contest. Apparently a domestic terrorist is targeting the event. Don't ask, because the script certainly doesn't.

Bullock is an endearing bumbler, and Michael Caine gives the type of performance you'd expect; he's nearly impervious to flimsy scripts. One could argue that this is director Donald Petrie's most accomplished film so far. The competition? Grumpy Old Men, Richie Rich, My Favorite Martian. But it's hard to pull off a movie poking fun at beauty contests where the protagonist only captures the attention of a hunky coworker (oops, he's her boss) after donning makeup and slinky skirts.