I can recall the first time I remember really noticing Sandra Bullock. It was in Demolition Man with Sylvester Stallone. Then came Speed, a film that I enjoyed immensely. I remember thinking to myself that this Bullock gal is really likable. She had that same sort of "the-girl-next-door" appeal as Meg Ryan. Although she has done decent fluff pictures since (the engaging While You Were Sleeping springs to mind), it seems that Miss Bullock is either horribly miscast (think A Time to Kill), or she can't pick a good role to save her life (I hated The Net and Speed 2 goes without saying). There have, of course been other less satisfactory pictures as well, but I wont go into those.

Now Bullock returns in Miss Congeniality, a typical, by-the-numbers, fish-out-of-water tale that seems to be comprised of elements from various sitcoms. In this new comedy from director Donald Petrie (Mystic Pizza, Grumpy Old Men), Bullock plays a tomboy FBI agent who seems to always disobey orders when on assignment. She has her work cut out for her, however, when her new assignment requires that she go undercover as a beauty pageant contestant to stop a criminal who has a certain passion for crashing pageant parties. This is no easy task for Bullock's character, she's no Charm School grad, and has probably never worn a dress a day in her life. It's up to the suave and sophisticated Michael Caine to transform this clumsy duckling into pageant form.

Miss Congeniality is harmless enough. It isn't really a dreadful film, but it's not an inspirational one either. It just sort of lumbers along from one scene to the next, in a very calculated fashion. Bullock is actually quite appealing (aside from that annoying and all to forced laugh/snort) and gives a nifty, physical performance. In fact, this film is full of likable performances from the likes of Benjamin Bratt, William Shatner (who seemed as if he would break into one of his priceline.com adds at any moment), and Caine. This movie is just too darned obvious to fully recommend. From early on we know who the culprit is, and it's obvious who's gonna save the day. I did appreciate that the film didn't stoop so low as to say that all beauty pageant contestants may be pretty on the outside but they're all ugly on the inside. The film actually portrays a rather sweet side to these woman.

Miss Congeniality is another comedy that refuses to take chances. It aspires to nothing more than light, breezy entertainment. It avoids the smarmy, satirical edge of last year's Drop Dead Gorgeous, a film I enjoyed more. On the other hand, if you're just looking for forgettable fluff, with a likable return to form Sandra Bullock, you could do a lot worse than Miss Congeniality.

I can recall the first time I remember really noticing Sandra Bullock. It was in Demolition Man with Sylvester Stallone. Then came Speed, a film that I enjoyed immensely. I remember thinking to myself that this Bullock gal is really likable. She had that same sort of "the-girl-next-door" appeal as Meg Ryan. Although she has done decent fluff pictures since (the engaging While You Were Sleeping springs to mind), it seems that Miss Bullock is either horribly miscast (think A Time to Kill), or she can't pick a good role to save her life (I hated The Net and Speed 2 goes without saying). There have, of course been other less satisfactory pictures as well, but I wont go into those.

Now Bullock returns in Miss Congeniality, a typical, by-the-numbers, fish-out-of-water tale that seems to be comprised of elements from various sitcoms. In this new comedy from director Donald Petrie (Mystic Pizza, Grumpy Old Men), Bullock plays a tomboy FBI agent who seems to always disobey orders when on assignment. She has her work cut out for her, however, when her new assignment requires that she go undercover as a beauty pageant contestant to stop a criminal who has a certain passion for crashing pageant parties. This is no easy task for Bullock's character, she's no Charm School grad, and has probably never worn a dress a day in her life. It's up to the suave and sophisticated Michael Caine to transform this clumsy duckling into pageant form.

Miss Congeniality is harmless enough. It isn't really a dreadful film, but it's not an inspirational one either. It just sort of lumbers along from one scene to the next, in a very calculated fashion. Bullock is actually quite appealing (aside from that annoying and all to forced laugh/snort) and gives a nifty, physical performance. In fact, this film is full of likable performances from the likes of Benjamin Bratt, William Shatner (who seemed as if he would break into one of his priceline.com adds at any moment), and Caine. This movie is just too darned obvious to fully recommend. From early on we know who the culprit is, and it's obvious who's gonna save the day. I did appreciate that the film didn't stoop so low as to say that all beauty pageant contestants may be pretty on the outside but they're all ugly on the inside. The film actually portrays a rather sweet side to these woman.

Miss Congeniality is another comedy that refuses to take chances. It aspires to nothing more than light, breezy entertainment. It avoids the smarmy, satirical edge of last year's Drop Dead Gorgeous, a film I enjoyed more. On the other hand, if you're just looking for forgettable fluff, with a likable return to form Sandra Bullock, you could do a lot worse than Miss Congeniality.