Before becoming a romcom icon, thanks to leading roles in The Proposal and The Lake House, Sandra Bullock was a bona-fide action star during the ’90s and 00s, with major roles in Demolition Man, and the Speed franchise. But, one of Bullock’s often-forgotten, and vastly underappreciated action flicks came six years after Speed, when Bullock starred in Miss Congeniality
. For those that have never seen the action comedy, or won’t pass up an opportunity for a long-overdue re-watch, it’s currently a hit on streaming.
Miss Congeniality was recently added to Netflix, and flew up the streamer’s Top 10 most popular movies of the week list. At the time of writing, Miss Congeniality is the 4th most popular movie on Netflix
. The film sits behind Amy Schumer’s latest comedy, Kinda Pregnant, in 1st, with The Menu and Back in Action in 2nd and 3rd, respectively. Released in 2000, Miss Congeniality was directed by Donald Petrie, and put an action spin on the Hottie and the Nottie (which is a real film) story arc that was popular during that era, and has thankfully been lain to rest.
Sandra Bullock stars as Gracie Hart, an untypically feminine detective who is sent on a mission to infiltrate the Miss United States beauty pageant. In order to do so, she must lose her tomboyish ways and become (in the eyes of 00s societal standards) a real “woman.” Alongside Bullock, Miss Congeniality also starred Michael Caine, Benjamin Bratt, Heather Burns, Candice Bergen, Ernie Hudson, and Steve Monroe. The official synopsis reads:
“Gracie Hart, a tomboyish detective, is made to infiltrate the Miss United States beauty pageant as a contestant after her department learns that the event is under threat from an anonymous bomber.”
‘Miss Congeniality’ Was a Critical Flop
Despite building enough of a fan base for Warner Bros. to green-light a sequel (2005’s dreadful Miss Congeniality 2: Armed & Fabulous), the original Miss Congeniality was slated by many critics. The movie holds a 41% score on Rotten Tomatoes, from a blend of reviews from 2000, and from more recent readings of the film.
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Even when it was released, some took issue with the film’s questionable presentation of feminism and misogyny. Elements like Gracie’s “tomboyishness” and the stereotypes of female models have all frustrated critics and audiences. In his 2000 review of the film, esteemed film critic, Roger Ebert, described Miss Congeniality as a middle of the road comedy, that is neither terrible nor great. “Miss Congeniality is harmless fun of a silly sort. It isn’t bad so much as it lacks any ambition to be more than it so obviously is,” he wrote.
Despite the bad reviews from critics, audiences mostly liked Miss Congeniality. Adjacent to its rotten critics score sits an audience rating of 69%. However, both fans and critics turned on the franchise with the sequel, Miss Congeniality 2, which holds an even worse critics’ rating of 16%, with audiences giving it a slightly better 43%. Even Sandra Bullock has admitted that Miss Congeniality 2 was a mistake, and ruled out any hopes of completing a trilogy. “God no, no. No. [Miss Congeniality] 2 shouldn’t have been done… That one should’ve remained a one-off,” the actress said.
Miss Congeniality
- Release Date
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December 22, 2000
- Runtime
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109 Minutes
- Director
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Donald Petrie
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
