Miss Congeniality Information

Miss Congeniality is a 2000 comedy film directed by Donald Petrie, written by Marc Lawrence, Katie Ford and Caryn Lucas, starring Sandra Bullock, Michael Caine, Benjamin Bratt and Candice Bergen.

Plot

The film opens at a school where one boy is picking on another boy. We see Gracie Hart (Mary Ashleigh Green) as a child who beats up the bully and tries to help the victim (whom she liked), who instead criticizes her by saying he disliked her because he did not want a girl to help him. She promptly punches the boy in the nose and sulks in the playground.

We go forward in time to when Gracie Hart (Sandra Bullock) is working for the Federal Bureau of Investigation with Eric Matthews (Benjamin Bratt) as a Special Agent. On a mission, she does not follow orders from her superior and instead tries to stop their target from choking. Because of her actions, one of her squad gets shot, and she is put on a desk job.

The bureau receives a threat against the 75th annual Miss United States beauty pageant in San Antonio, Texas, from notorious domestic terrorist "The Citizen". Eric is elected to lead the mission to stop the attack. A computer search identifies Hart as the female FBI agent best qualified to go undercover as a contestant, although she pays little attention to her femininity.

Beauty pageant coach Victor Melling (Michael Caine), whose reputation was ruined after his last contestant criticized his methods, teaches the tomboyish Hart how to dress, walk, and act like a contestant. She is not used to such behavior, however, and sees the pageant and its participants as "outdated and antifeminist". Representing New Jersey as "Gracie Lou Freebush", Hart impresses the audience by playing the glass harp and demonstrating self-defense techniques during the talent competition. She unexpectedly becomes friends with the other contestants.

Several suspects exist, including corrupted competition director and former pageant winner Kathy Morningside (Candice Bergen); her unpleasant assistant Frank Tobin (Steve Monroe); veteran MC Stan Fields (William Shatner) who, like Morningside, is being replaced with a younger person; and Rhode Island's Cheryl Frasier (Heather Burns), possibly a radical animal rights activist. The Citizen is caught elsewhere, but Hart is beginning to suspect Kathy Morningside and is worried about the safety of the girls. She gives up her badge and gun and continues the investigation alone.

Matthews, after failing to support Hart, is about to leave for the bureau when he works out that Hart's suspicions were correct, and returns to help her. Hart surprises everyone, including herself, by becoming runner-up to Cheryl. The agents discover that Morningside and Tobin—secretly her son—impersonated Citizen due to her old grudge against the contest, and are attempting to murder Cheryl with a bomb in the title tiara and let Hart take the blame. However, Hart and Matthews save the day, and they arrest Morningside and her secret son, despite Morningside's claims that Hart is the culprit, to which Hart does not believe her story. Hart's fellow contestants choose her as Miss Congeniality, and she starts a relationship with Matthews.

Cast

• Sandra Bullock as Gracie Hart
• Mary Ashleigh Green as Young Gracie
• Michael Caine as Victor Melling
• Benjamin Bratt as Eric Matthews
• Candice Bergen as Kathy Morningside
• William Shatner as Stan Fields
• Heather Burns as Cheryl Frasier, Miss Rhode Island
• Steve Monroe as Frank Tobin/Morningside
• Ernie Hudson as Harry McDonald
• John DiResta as Agent Clonsky
• Wendy Raquel Robinson as Leslie Davis, Miss California
• Deirdre Quinn as Mary Jo Wright, Miss Texas
• Melissa De Sousa as Karen Krantz, Miss New York
• Asia De Marcos as Alana Krewson, Miss Hawaii
• Jennifer Gareis as Tina, Miss New York's girlfriend
• Cody Linley as Tough boy in flashback
• LeeAnne Locken as Kelly Beth Kelly, Miss Nebraska

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 on-location. The pageant itself was shot at Bass Concert Hall at the University of Texas at Austin and the hotel hosting the contestants was the Omni Austin at South Park, again in Austin.

Box office and reception

The film opened fifth at the North American box office making $13,853,686 USD in its opening weekend, it had a 5% increase in earnings the week after, enough to make the film reach #3. The movie was a box office hit, grossing more than $106 million at the United States box office and grossed over $212.7 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". The film received a 42% rating from Rotten Tomatoes and a 43 metascore from Metacritic, representing mixed or average reviews.

Home media

The film was first released on DVD in 2001, and included two audio commentaries, some deleted scenes, the theatrical trailer, and two documentaries. In 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. It was released a second time in 2009, as part of a double pack with the sequel, Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous.

Sequel

A sequel, Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous, was released on March 24, 2005. The film starred Sandra Bullock, Regina King, Enrique Murciano, William Shatner, Ernie Hudson, Heather Burns, Diedrich Bader, and Treat Williams. The sequel was less successful, critically and commercially, earning only $101,393,569.

Soundtrack

1. "One in a Million" - Bosson (3:30)
2. "If Everybody Looked the Same" - Groove Armada (3:40)
3. "She's a Lady (The BT Remix)" - Tom Jones (4:21)
4. "Anywhere USA" - P.Y.T (4:06)
5. "Dancing Queen" - A*Teens (3:50)
6. "Let's Get It On" - Red Venom (3:26)
7. "Get Ya Party On" - Baha Men (3:20)
8. "None of Your Business" - Salt 'N' Pepa (3:34)
9. "Mustang Sally" - Los Lobos (4:59)
10. "Bullets" - Bob Schneider (4:25)
11. "Liquored Up and Lacquered Down" - Southern Culture on the Skids (2:26)
12. "Miss United States (Berman Brothers Mix)" - William Shatner (3:38)
13. "One in a Million (Bostrom Mix)" - Bosson (3:33)