Miss Congeniality (2000)

An F.B.I. Agent must go undercover in the Miss United States beauty pageant to prevent a group from bombing the event.

Director:

Donald Petrie

Writers:

Marc Lawrence, Katie Ford

Stars:

Sandra Bullock, Michael Caine, Benjamin Bratt

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 7 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sandra Bullock	...	Gracie Hart
Michael Caine	...	Victor Melling
Benjamin Bratt	...	Eric Matthews
Candice Bergen	...	Kathy Morningside
William Shatner	...	Stan Fields
Ernie Hudson	...	Harry McDonald
John DiResta	...	Agent Clonsky
Heather Burns	...	Cheryl Frasier - Miss Rhode Island
Melissa De Sousa	...	Karen Krantz - Miss New York
Steve Monroe	...	Frank Tobin
Deirdre Quinn	...	Mary Jo Wright - Miss Texas
Wendy Raquel Robinson	...	Leslie Davis - Miss California
Asia De Marcos	...	Alana Krewson - Miss Hawaii
Ken Thomas	...	Agent Harris
Gabriel Folse	...	Agent Jerry Grant

Storyline

Undercover F.B.I. Agent Gracie Hart shows no signs of having any femininity in her demeanor or appearance. Generally a bright and capable Agent, she is in trouble at work when she makes an error in judgment in a case which results in a near disaster. As such, one of her by-the-books colleagues, Eric Matthews, who has never shown any inclination of thinking outside the box, is assigned to lead the high profile case of a terrorist coined The Citizen instead of her, while she is facing possible disciplinary action. Gracie pieces together the evidence to determine that The Citizen's next target will be the Miss United States beauty pageant. The pageant represents everything that Gracie abhors. Despite Gracie's mannish demeanor, Eric, with no other undercover female Agent remotely fitting the demographic, assigns her to go undercover as a pageant contestant to see if she can flush out The Citizen, who is perhaps one of the other contestants. Although the pageant administration, led by ...

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Plot Keywords:

f rated | villainess | good versus evil | evil woman | released in 2000 on usa | 

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Taglines:

Unpolished. Unkempt. Unleashed. Undercover.

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sexual references and a scene of violence

Details

Official Sites:

Castle Rock Warner Bros. (UK)

Country:

USA

Language:

English Russian French Hawaiian Spanish

Release Date:

22 December 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Miss Undercover

Filming Locations:

Austin Studios - 1901 E. 51st Street, Austin, Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$45,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$13,853,686, 25 December 2000, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$106,807,667, 13 May 2001

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$212,742,720

Company Credits

Production Co:

Castle Rock Entertainment, Village Roadshow Pictures, NPV Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

After the morning briefing, Gracie and the Captain walk past a picture of Gracie's mom on the wall.

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Goofs

When Kathy puts on the crown, the letters she just finished writing are a bit scattered and also her glasses are lying on the bottom sheet. Before she picks up the letters to point them out to Frank, they are in a neat stack. The glasses seem to be gone, since she isn't too careful when picking up the papers and there is no sound of the glasses falling or sliding onto the table.

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Quotes

Victor Melling: Why is New Jersey called "The Garden State"?
Gracie Hart: Because it's too hard to fit"Oil and Petrochemical Refinery State" on a license plate?

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Connections

Referenced in NCIS: Being Bad (2016)

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Soundtracks

Semper Fidelis
Written by John Philip Sousa
Performed by Razumovsky Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Keith Brion
Courtesy of Naxos of America
by arrangement with Source/Q

User Reviews

silly material made worthwhile

Good-natured and funny comedy has Bullock perfectly cast as an uptight, tomboyish federal agent who—for the first time in her entire life—decides to embrace her femininity after she's assigned to go undercover at a beauty pageant to try and apprehend an elusive criminal. She's never even worn a dress, much less makeup and accessories, and the results are hilarious as she tries to do her job and be a credible contestant as well. Film's setup and execution are predictable, yet kept afloat by a meaningful story, good lines, and big time laughs. Bullock is as appealing as she's ever been, and surrounded here by a first-rate supporting cast. ***