After being completely underwhelmed by Sandra "Speed" Bullock in forgettable flick-lites like Speed 2, 28 Days, and the completely unentertaining The Net, I figured Miss Congeniality would be a total bust. I do so love it when I'm proven wrong. The Story (WARNING: **spoilers contained below**) From the time she was a young girl growing up in New Jersey, Gracie Hart (Sandra Bullock) was what's commonly referred to as a "tomboy". Young Gracie felt she had an obligation to protect and serve those who couldn't do so for themselves. Naturally, that obligation led her to become an FBI agent, under no-nonsense supervisor McDonald (Ernie Hudson), who was wary of Hart's hard-edged, gung-ho tactics. His wariness was proven out when rough-and-tumble Hart went against his orders, endangering the lives of fellow FBI agents, including Handsomely Rugged Eric Matthews (Benjamin Bratt); because of this, McDonald makes Hart cool her jets at her desk. But when Matthews gets assigned to run his own Ops in pursuit of the terrorist known as The Citizen, Matthews convinces McDonald to let Hart be used as bait when they learn of The Citizen's next target: the Miss United States Beauty Pageant. Excuse me, I meant "Scholarship Contest". Or so says Cathy Morningside (Candice Bergen), pageant...er, contest sponsor, aging ex-beauty queen, and co-host, along with the equally aging Stan Fields (William Shatner). The idea is for Gracie to be planted in the contest as Miss New Jersey, alongside fellow contestants including Miss Rhode Island (Heather Burns), Miss California (Wendy Raquel Robinson), Miss New York (Melissa De Sousa), Miss Texas (Diedre Quinn), and Miss Hawaii (Asia De Marcos). Only one problem: this Miss New Jersey is a slob. Enter Victor Melling (Michael Caine), a pageant consultant with Issues. The Upshot No one was more surprised than I was to hear myself laughing throughout the movie Miss Congeniality - and at appropriate times, no less! Sandra Bullock was a delight to watch from start to finish; not since Speed has she seemed so Lucille Ball-esque in her mixed of roughneck charm and physical humor, blended with a natural beauty that shined even under all the grit. It was nice to see some of the qualities in her that made Speed such fun to watch. But contrary to the views of some of my fellow critics, Bullock didn't have to carry this flick alone; she was ably assisted by the almost always-brilliant Michael Caine as disgruntled diva-maker Victor Melling, flat out hilarious in yet another good role. The quick wit sparring between Bullock and Caine was as good a bit of acting, editing, and writing as I've seen in any mainstream comedy this year. Add Candice Bergen to the mix as an acerbically funny ex-beauty queen, and Benjamin Bratt as the ObStud, and you have a recipe for a purty darn good flick. Strangely enough, William Shatner's campy pageant queen, Stan Fields, did nothing for me; I went in expecting Shatner to chew up scenery in classic Captain Kirk With-A-Twist mode, but he just fell flat. In fact, other than the need for having a separate groomsman and show host, Shatner's Fields was an unnecessary duplication of efforts; Caine could've more than ably handled playing the host (though I would've sorely missed his showing Gracie how to "glide". Nah, the tradeoff wouldn't have been worth it at all). Don't think too much about the obligatory (for FBI involvement) "mystery" of The Citizen; that part was all smoke and mirrors. At heart, it's the interplay between Bullock and Caine, cute teasing from Bullock and Bratt, and catty, but fun overall, flow between all of Gracie's fellow pageant entrants, that made this flick surprisingly good. I'm no fan of beauty cattlecalls...er, I mean, pageants...but the chicks of Miss Congeniality - along with their cohort, Michael Caine - made the fictional Miss United States Scholarship Contest, a winner. The "Black Factor"    [ObDisclaimer: We Are Not A Monolith] Diva and I often talk about Spot in our reviews - you know, that one Black person that you know was included as Diversity Filler, just to show that Lead Character X Has Black Friends, Too. The Black pageant entrants in Miss Congeniality - Miss California (Wendy Raquel Robinson) and Miss New York (Melissa De Sousa, late of The Best Man) - showed no signs of Spottage; they looked and acted like they belonged right where they were. And speaking of De Sousa, look for a funny spotlight on her late in the movie. By that time, I thought all the laughs were over. I was, fortunately, wrong again. Bammer's Bottom Line Miss Congeniality brought out the humorous best in Sandra Bullock, Michael Caine, and believe it or not, Candice Bergman. I haven't seen Bullock this slap-my-knee funny since Speed. Nope, I take that back: she was even better in "Miss". I'm going to see it again when it opens next week. MISS CONGENIALITY: Any woman that can toss a man around in evening wear and come up smiling, is One Kewl Chick in my book! back to top And that's the way I see it. Rose "Bams" Cooper 3BlackChicks Enterprises™ Copyright Rose Cooper, 2000 EMAIL: bams@3blackchicks.com    ICQ: 7760005 http://www.3blackchicks.com/ http://www.evenbetter.com/?partner=1987

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