Miss Congeniality (2000)
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A tough FBI agent must go undercover as a beauty pageant contestant to stop a terrorist threat.
The story
Gracie Hart is a tough but uncouth special agent for the FBI who finds herself demoted to a desk job after a mission goes wrong. When the agency receives news of a bomb threat from a notorious domestic terrorist named 'the Citizen' at the upcoming Miss United States beauty pageant in San Antonio, Texas, Gracie's partner, Eric Matthews, is put in charge. To infiltrate the event, Eric suggests that Gracie take the place of a disqualified contestant. Under the guidance of a pageant coach, Gracie must learn to behave in a ladylike manner while navigating the competition and searching for the hidden threat.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
The story begins in 1982 with Gracie Hart, who defends a peer from a bully. Eighteen years later, she is a tough FBI agent. After a botched operation leads to her demotion, she is tasked with infiltrating the Miss United States pageant in San Antonio to stop a bomb threat from 'the Citizen'. She is coached by Victor Melling to act like a lady and competes as 'Gracie Lou Freebush'. While competing, she befriends Cheryl Frasier and identifies several suspects, including the pageant's director. Despite her suspicions about a potential copycat, her superiors pull the mission when the primary suspect is arrested on unrelated charges. However, Eric Matthews continues the investigation. In the final round, Gracie is named runner-up and discovers a bomb in the winner's crown. She fights Cheryl for the crown while Eric wrestles a suspect, and she successfully throws the tiara into the scenery, causing the bomb to explode safely. Following the event, Gracie is named 'Miss Congeniality' for her actions.
- First release year
- 2000
- Runtime (minutes)
- 110
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Donald Petrie
- Writers
- Marc Lawrence · writer; Katie Ford · writer; Caryn Lucas · writer
- Cast and characters
- Sandra Bullock · Gracie Hart; Michael Caine; Benjamin Bratt; Candice Bergen; William Shatner; Ernie Hudson
- Genres
- action comedy; crime comedy
- Themes
- undercover operations; identity; pageantry
- Tone and mood
- comedy; action
- Premise and plot tags
- fish-out-of-water; undercover; beauty pageant
- Franchise connections
- Miss Congeniality
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews from critics and was considered a box office hit, grossing over $212 million worldwide.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 42% · scale: percentage · review count: 116; Metacritic · score: 43 · scale: 100 · review count: 20
- Awards and nominations
- Golden Globe Award · Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical · nomination
- Production trivia
- The script was inspired by Ellen DeGeneres's training for the Emmys.; Several actors, including Hugh Jackman, read for the role of Eric Matthews.; The song 'Miss United States' was written by Marc Lawrence's son when he was 5 years old.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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