Miss Congeniality is a
2000 comedy directed by
Donald Petrie, starring
Sandra Bullock and
Benjamin Bratt. A sequel,
Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous was released in
2005.
Plot
Gracie Hart (
Sandra 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 terrorist. She, who is not traditionally attractive, is turned into a more attractive woman going by the name of
Gracie Lou Freebush, with the same tomboyish habits (eg.
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 (
Michael Caine) and the director of the competition and former queen, Kathy Morningside (
Candice 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 places as runner up to Cheryl Frasier (Miss Rhode Island). 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 (
Benjamin Bratt).
Cast
Production
Most of the movie was shot in
Austin, Texas, though it was set in
New York City and San Antonio. Exteriors of the
St. Regis and a few street scenes were shot in New York. The interior of the St. Regis was actually Austin's
Driskill Hotel. The
Alamo and
River Walk scenes in San Antonio were shot in there. The pageant itself was shot at Bass Concert Hall at the
University of Texas at Austin and the hotel hosting the contestants was the
Hyatt on
Lady Bird Lake, again in Austin.
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 Globes 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".
DVD Release
According to DvdTown, the
DVD was released on June 1, 2004, including two commentaries, some deleted scenes, the theatrical trailer, and two documentaries. On March 3, 2005, a deluxe edition of the film was released, including different cover art for the DVD and menu. It contained the same features as the other DVD version plus a quiz hosted by William Shatner and a sneak peek at the second film. No
Blu-ray edition has been released yet.
Soundtrack
Track listing
External links
wikiquote
Donald Petrie
DEFAULTSORT:Miss Congeniality (Film)
