Ugh. There's no denying it. This is another straight up chick flick, and I didn't wanna see it. Then why did I see this movie? Don't ask.
Like most chick flicks, "Miss Congeniality" is totally predictable and comes with no surprises. Also, this particular kind of chick flick is horrendously overdone. You know what I'm talking about. A supposedly ugly girl goes through some makeover for whatever reason, and suddenly, she's beautiful. Sometimes, these movies work, but usually, they don't. My favorite actress who ever lived, Audrey Hepburn, made quite a few of these types of movies. Sure, some were great, like "My Fair Lady" and "Sabrina," but even Audrey can't be perfect. She was also in "Funny Face," which used a similar theme, and I'm not a big fan of that movie.
Much of the success of "Miss Congeniality" depends on Sandra Bullock, and she's great. I like the presence she brings to the screen, and there's something about her that just glows. But it's not enough for me to love this movie. Sure, there are a few good parts, and I didn't hate it or anything, but I'm kinda tired of this formula.
So yeah, Sandra Bullock is great, but there's something about Benjamin Bratt (Julia Roberts' man) that bugged me in this movie. He seems to have this extreme arrogance, and it makes him hard to like. I can't really explain it, but he seems to be a very stuck up person, and that makes it tough to like his character. I could be wrong, maybe he's a really humble guy... but I doubt it. Michael Caine is very good, as is Candice Bergen, but surprisingly enough, it's Captain Kirk himself, William Shatner, who does all the scene stealing. He's a horrible actor, but for some reason, in this movie, he's terrific.
"Miss Congeniality" was directed by Donald Petrie (the recent feature film version of "My Favorite Martian," the live-action "Richie Rich" movie starring Macauley Culkin, one of Brad Pitt's early films, "The Favor," "Grumpy Old Men," and "Mystic Pizza") The story was by Marc Lawrence (he wrote "Forces of Nature," which also starred Sandra Bullock) & Katie Ford (she's done a lotta TV stuff) & Caryn Lucas (she's done a lotta TV stuff, too). The screenplay was by Marc Lawrence.
No, this isn't
a horrible movie, but I sure as hell wouldn't rush to see it again. I WILL
admit that it was better than I thought it would be, but I thought it was
gonna be pretty bad. Like, "Dungeons
& Dragons" bad.
Scale of 1-10: 6