Miss Congeniality (film)

Miss Congeniality is a 2000 American action comedy film directed by Donald Petrie, written by Marc Lawrence, Katie Ford, and Caryn Lucas, and produced by and starring Sandra Bullock as Gracie Hart, a tomboy agent who is asked by the FBI to go undercover as a contestant when a terrorist threatens to bomb the Miss United States pageant. Michael Caine, Benjamin Bratt, Candice Bergen, William Shatner, and Ernie Hudson star in supporting roles.

Miss Congeniality was released by Warner Bros. Pictures on December 22, 2000 to mixed or average critic reviews and was a box office hit, grossing $212 million worldwide against its $45 million budget, and earned Bullock a nomination for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical. It was followed by the sequel Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous in 2005.

Plot
In 1982, 10-year-old Gracie Hart breaks up a school fight between two boys, one of whom is a bully and the other, her crush. The boy she likes is humiliated, being saved by a girl, and he rudely rejects her; Gracie punches him and leaves.

18 years later, 28-year-old Gracie is a tough special agent for the FBI. During a sting against Russian mobsters, she ignores protocol to save a mob boss who appears to be choking, causing one of her fellow FBI agents to be shot; Gracie is then demoted to a desk job. Soon, the agency receives news of a bomb threat from notorious domestic terrorist "the Citizen", alluding to an act of terrorism at the upcoming Miss United States beauty pageant in San Antonio, Texas. Gracie's partner, Eric Matthews, is put in charge of the mission; he relies on Gracie's suggestions, only to take credit for them himself. One of Gracie's ideas is to plant an agent undercover at the event and reach the top five contestants so they have access to everything in the pageant. When all possible candidates are deemed unfit, Eric suggests that Gracie take on the role, replacing Miss New Jersey, who was to be disqualified anyway.

Beauty pageant coach Victor Melling teaches Gracie how to dress, walk, and behave like a "lady". Although she is initially appalled, Gracie comes to appreciate Victor's thoroughness. She enters the pageant as "Gracie Lou Freebush", representing New Jersey, and becomes friends with Cheryl Frasier, Miss Rhode Island. As the competition begins, Gracie impresses the judges during the talent competition with her glass harp skills and self-defense techniques.

Several suspects are identified as being "the Citizen", including the current competition director and former pageant winner Kathy Morningside, her assistant Frank Tobin, veteran MC Stan Fields, and even Cheryl, who has a history of involvement with a radical animal rights activist group. Gracie convinces Cheryl and the other contestants to go out one night and drink. Gracie uses the chance to try prying into Cheryl's past, and learns from the others that Kathy's past as a pageant contestant is truly suspicious, including the fact that the year she won, the original winner came down with food poisoning. Gracie deduces Kathy is a "Citizen" copycat. When Gracie reports this to Eric and the team, she learns that "the Citizen" has been arrested on an unrelated charge. As there is no perceived threat, their superior, Harry McDonald, pulls the mission. Gracie insists that she suspects something is off, but Eric and the team leave, unconvinced. While on their way home, Victor informs Eric that Frank is actually Kathy's son, a fact they had tried to hide from the FBI because of his criminal record. Eric returns to Texas to help continue the investigation, against FBI orders.

In the final round of the pageant, Gracie is stunned when she is named first runner-up. Cheryl is named Miss United States, but as she goes to accept the tiara, Gracie realizes that Frank impersonated "the Citizen" to make the pageant bomb threat, and that the bomb is in the crown. Gracie fights Cheryl for the crown as Eric wrestles with Frank, who is about to detonate the bomb. Finally, Gracie manages to throw the tiara up at the stage scenery, where it explodes and sets the stage on fire. As Kathy and Frank are arrested, Gracie determines that the two wanted to kill the pageant winner on stage as revenge for Kathy's own termination from the pageant organization. Afterwards, Eric asks Gracie out on a date, and they kiss. Soon thereafter, Eric and Victor trick Gracie into attending the pageant's farewell breakfast, where Cheryl names Gracie "Miss Congeniality". Gracie tearfully accepts the honor, finally understanding the true spirit of pageantry.

Development
Ellen DeGeneres claims that the writer was inspired when watching her training to walk in high heels and a dress in preparation for her role co-hosting the Emmys. Although DeGeneres's first time hosting the ceremony on her own was not until November 2001, nearly a year after the film had been released, she did co-host the 46th Primetime Emmy Awards in 1994 alongside Patricia Richardson.

Casting
8 actors read for the part of Eric Matthews, including Hugh Jackman. Matt Dillon came close to getting cast as Eric Matthews, but the part went to Benjamin Bratt.

Filming
The story is set in New York City and San Antonio. Scenes showing the exterior of the St. Regis New York, as well as a few street scenes, were shot on location in New York, and Weehawken, New Jersey. The Alamo and River Walk scenes were shot on location in San Antonio. The majority of the film was shot in Austin, Texas: scenes depicting the interior of the St. Regis were shot in Austin's Driskill Hotel; the pageant scenes were shot at the Bass Concert Hall at the University of Texas at Austin; and scenes depicting the pageant contestants in their hotel rooms were shot in the Omni Austin at South Park.

Distribution
Miss Congeniality was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures in most countries, and by Roadshow Entertainment in Australia and New Zealand.

Box office
The film was the fifth highest-grossing film in North America on its opening weekend, making US$13.9 million. It had a 5% increase in earnings the following week—enough to make the film reach #3. Overall, it was a box office hit, grossing more than $106 million in the United States, and more than $212 million worldwide.

Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 41% based on review from 116 critics. The critical consensus reads: "Though critics say Bullock is funny and charming, she can't overcome a bad script that makes the movie feel too much like a fluffy, unoriginal sitcom." On Metacritic the film has a score of 43 out of 100, based on reviews from 20 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "A−".

A. O. Scott of The New York Times described it as "a standard-issue fish-out-of-water comedy" which "seems happily, deliberately second-rate, as if its ideal audience consisted of weary airline passengers". Roger Ebert for the Chicago Sun-Times wrote: "It isn't bad so much as it lacks any ambition to be more than it so obviously is" although he had some praise for Sandra Bullock's performance.

It was nominated for several awards, including two Golden Globes: Sandra Bullock for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy/Musical, and Bosson's "One in a Million" for Best Original Song in a Motion Picture.

Home media
The film's first DVD edition, released in 2001, included two audio commentaries, some deleted scenes, the theatrical trailer, and two documentaries about the making of the film. A deluxe-edition DVD, released in 2005, featured different cover art and contained the same features as the other DVD version plus a quiz hosted by William Shatner and a sneak peek at the upcoming sequel. In 2009, a double feature edition was released that included the sequel.

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 both critically and commercially, earning only $101.3 million.

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" - The Commitments (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)