Miss Congeniality is a 2000 comedy/thriller film directed by Donald Petrie, starring Sandra Bullock and Benjamin Bratt. A sequel, Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous was released in 2005.

Cast

• Sandra Bullock — Gracie Hart
• Michael Caine — Victor Melling
• Benjamin Bratt — Eric Matthews
• Candice Bergen — Kathy Morningside
• Heather Burns — Cheryl Frasier (Miss Rhode Island)
• Steve Monroe — Frank Tobin
• Ernie Hudson — Harry McDonald
• William Shatner — Stan Fields

Plot

Gracie Hart (Bullock) is an FBI agent who goes undercover in the fictional Miss United States scholarship program/beauty pageant in San Antonio, Texas on the lookout for a serial bomber. She is a feminist who is not traditionally attractive, and is turned into a more attractive woman going by the name of Gracie Lou Freebush, with the same tomboyish habits (ex. snorting while laughing). She is seen overreacting to a gun-toting Texan, wearing a Tyrolean for her talent competition, much to the dismay of her mentor, Victor Melling (Caine) and the director of the competition and former queen, Kathy Morningside (Bergen), and using her on-stage talent to demonstrate self-defense techniques.

In the pageant itself Hart, competing on behalf of the state of New Jersey, was tabbed to advance to the top 10, but gets through on talent alone for the rest of the pageant; she eventually placed runner up (Cheryl Frasier/Miss Rhode Island won). It is revealed at the end of the movie that Morningside and her son, Frank Morningside (gone under the name Tobin to hide his many crimes) have plotted to sabotage the pageant; they are caught after the title crown (which is rigged with a bomb) detonates at conclusion of the pageant, and Gracie is awarded "Miss Congeniality" (although The Miss Congeniality award is usually given during the pageant itself, a custom in pageants such as Miss USA and Miss Universe) and starts a relationship with her partner Eric Matthews (Bratt).

Titles

• Brazil:Miss Simpatia
• Bulgaria, Slovakia, Serbia,Sweden and Spain: "Miss Secret Agent"
• Denmark: "Agent Catwalk"
• Estonia: "Miss Special Agent"
• Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Norway: "Miss Undercover"
• Greece: "Miss By Forces"
• Hungary: "Beépített szépség" (Inbuilt Beauty)
• France: "Miss Détective"
• Italy and Portugal: "Miss Detective"
• Japan: "Dangerous Beauty"
• Latin America, Mexico: "Miss Simpatía"
• Poland and Korea: "Miss Agent"
• Turkey: "Beautiful Detective"
• Vietnam: "Hoa hậu FBI" (Miss FBI)

Reception

The movie was a box office hit, grossing more than $106 million at the U.S. box office and grossed over $212 million worldwide. It was nominated for several awards, including two Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical for Sandra Bullock and Best Original Song - Motion Picture for Bosson's "One in a Million".

External links