''Miss Congeniality'' is a 2000 American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Donald Petrie Donald Mark Petrie (born April 2, 1954) is an American film director and actor. Life and career Petrie was born in New York City, New York, the son of Dorothea (née Grundy), a television producer, actor, and novelist, and Daniel Petrie, a dir ...

, produced by

Sandra Bullock Sandra Annette Bullock (; born July 26, 1964) is an American actress and producer. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Sandra Bullock, various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, Bullock was ...

, and written by

Marc Lawrence Marc Lawrence (born Max Goldsmith; February 17, 1910 – November 28, 2005) was an American character actor who specialized in underworld types. He has also been credited as F. A. Foss, Marc Laurence and Marc C. Lawrence. Early life Lawrence w ...

, Katie Ford and Caryn Lucas. The film stars Bullock as Gracie Hart, a

tomboy A tomboy is a term for a girl or a young woman with masculine qualities. It can include wearing androgynous or unfeminine clothing and actively engage in physical sports or other activities and behaviors usually associated with boys or men. W ...

agent who is asked by the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

to go undercover as a contestant when a terrorist threatens to bomb the

Miss United States Miss United States is a pageant held in the United States for unmarried women between the ages of 20-29. The pageant includes women selected to represent all 50 states, District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Commonwealth of the Northern Mar ...

pageant.

Michael Caine Sir Michael Caine (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite; 14 March 1933) is an English actor. Known for his distinctive Cockney accent, he has appeared in more than 160 films in a career spanning seven decades, and is considered a British film ico ...

Benjamin Bratt Benjamin Bratt (born December 16, 1963) is an American actor and producer who has worked in film and on television. He had supporting roles in the 1990s in such box office hits as ''Demolition Man'' (1993), ''Clear and Present Danger'' (1994), ...

Candice Bergen Candice Patricia Bergen (born May 9, 1946) is an American actress. She won five Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards for her portrayal of the title character on the CBS sitcom ''Murphy Brown'' (1988–1998, 2018). She is also know ...

William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1965 debut as the captain of the starship USS Enterpri ...

, and

Ernie Hudson Earnest Lee Hudson (born December 17, 1945) is an American actor. His roles include Winston Zeddemore in the ''Ghostbusters'' film series, Sergeant Darryl Albrecht in ''The Crow'' (1994), and Warden Leo Glynn on HBO's '' Oz'' (1997–2003). Hu ...

star in supporting roles. ''Miss Congeniality'' was released by

Warner Bros. Pictures Warner Bros. Pictures is an American film production and distribution company of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group division of Warner Bros. Entertainment (both ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery). The studio is the flagship producer of ...

on December 22, 2000. The film was a box office hit, grossing $212 million worldwide against its $45 million budget, and earned Bullock a nomination for a

Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical The Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical is a Golden Globe Award that was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as a separate category in 1951. Previously, there was a single award for ...

. It was followed by the

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

'' Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous'' in 2005.

Plot

In 1982, a young Gracie Hart steps into a playground fight to beat up a bully who is threatening a boy she likes. However, the boy feels humiliated at being rescued by a girl and rejects her rudely. In response, Gracie punches him in the nose and leaves to sulk alone. Years later, Gracie is now a tough special agent for the

. During a sting operation against Russian mobsters, she disobeys her superior's orders in order to save a mob boss who appears to be choking, which causes one of the other agents to be shot. Gracie is demoted to a desk job as punishment. Soon after, the agency is alerted via a letter from the notorious

domestic terrorist Domestic terrorism or homegrown terrorism is a form of terrorism in which victims "within a country are targeted by a perpetrator with the same citizenship" as the victims.Gary M. Jackson, ''Predicting Malicious Behavior: Tools and Techniques ...

known only as "the Citizen" to a bomb threat at the upcoming 75th annual

beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

. Gracie's partner Eric Matthews is put in charge, and he relies on Gracie's suggestions, only to take credit for them himself. One of Gracie's ideas is to plant an agent

undercover To go "undercover" (that is, to go on an undercover operation) is to avoid detection by the object of one's observation, and especially to disguise one's own identity (or use an assumed identity) for the purposes of gaining the trust of an indi ...

at the event and reach the top five so they have access to everything in the pageant. When all possible candidates are deemed unfit, Eric suggests that Gracie take on that role, replacing Miss

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, who was to be disqualified. Beauty pageant coach Victor Melling teaches Gracie how to dress, walk and behave like a contestant. Although she was initially appalled, Gracie comes to appreciate Victor's thoroughness. Gracie enters the pageant as "Gracie Lou Freebush", representing New Jersey, and becomes friends with Cheryl Frasier, who is Miss

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

. As the competition begins, Gracie impresses the judges during the talent competition with her

glass harp A glass harp (also called musical glasses, singing glasses, angelic organ, verrillon or ghost fiddle) is a musical instrument made of upright wine glasses. It is played by running moistened or chalked fingers around the rim of the glasses. Eac ...

skills and

self-defense Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force in ...

techniques. Several suspects are identified, including the current competition director and former pageant winner Kathy Morningside, her assistant Frank Tobin, the veteran MC Stan Fields, and Cheryl, who has a history of being a radical

animal rights activist The animal rights (AR) movement, sometimes called the animal liberation, animal personhood, or animal advocacy movement, is a social movement that seeks an end to the rigid moral and legal distinction drawn between human and non-human animals ...

. Gracie accompanies Cheryl and other contestants as they spend a night partying, where Gracie tries to dig into Cheryl's past, but inadvertently learns from the others that Kathy's past as a pageant contestant is suspect, including the fact that she won after the leading contestant suddenly came down with food poisoning. Gracie comes to believe Kathy is a "Citizen" copycat. When Gracie reports this to Eric and the team, she learns that "The Citizen" has been arrested on an unrelated charge, and because there is no further threat, their supervisor has pulled the mission. Gracie insists that she suspects something is wrong, but Eric and the team leave, unconvinced. While on their way home, Victor informs Eric that Frank is actually Kathy's son, a fact they'd tried to hide from the FBI. Eric returns to Texas to help her continue the investigation against orders. In the final round, Gracie is stunned when she is named first runner-up. Cheryl is named Miss United States, but as she goes to accept the

tiara A tiara (from la, tiara, from grc, τιάρα) is a jeweled head ornament. Its origins date back to ancient Greece and Rome. In the late 18th century, the tiara came into fashion in Europe as a prestigious piece of jewelry to be worn by women ...

, Gracie realizes that Frank impersonated "the Citizen" to make the pageant bomb threat, and that the bomb is in the crown. Gracie fights the other contestants for the crown as Eric wrestles with Frank, who is about to detonate the bomb. Gracie throws the tiara up at the stage scenery, where it explodes and sets the stage on fire. As Kathy and Frank are arrested, Gracie determines that the two wanted to kill the pageant winner on stage as revenge for Kathy's termination from the Miss United States organization. Afterwards, Eric asks Gracie out on a date and they kiss. Soon after, Eric and Victor trick Gracie into attending the pageant's farewell breakfast where the new Miss United States (Cheryl) names Gracie "Miss Congeniality".

Cast

as FBI Special Agent Gracie Hart ** Mary Ashleigh Green as young Gracie *

as Victor Melling *

as FBI Agent Eric Matthews *

as Kathy Morningside *

as Stanley Fields *

Heather Burns Heather Burns (born April 7, 1975) is an American actress, known for her role as Miss Rhode Island Cheryl Frasier in the 2000 film '' Miss Congeniality'' and its 2005 sequel, '' Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous''. Her other film appearan ...

as Cheryl Frasier (

Miss Rhode Island The Miss Rhode Island competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Rhode Island in the Miss America pageant. Abby Mansolillo of Providence was crowned Miss Rhode Island 2022 on May 1st, 2022 at the McVinney Aud ...

) *

Deirdre Quinn Deirdre Quinn (born 1973) is an American model and actress, known for her role as Miss Texas in the 2000 film '' Miss Congeniality''. Biography Quinn grew up outside of Philadelphia, and is a graduate of Germantown Academy. She is a graduate in ...

as Mary Jo Wright (

Miss Texas The Miss Texas competition was founded in 1937 as a scholarship contest for young women. The winner represents Texas in the Miss America pageant; three winners have gone on to be crowned Miss America (but none since 1975). To become Miss Texas ...

) *

Wendy Raquel Robinson Wendy Raquel Robinson is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as high school principal Regina "Piggy" Grier on The WB comedy sitcom ''The Steve Harvey Show'' (1996–2002), and as sports agent Tasha Mack on The CW/BET/Paramoun ...

as Leslie Davis (

Miss California The Miss California competition selects the representative for the state of California in the Miss America competition. The pageant began in Santa Cruz in 1924 and was held there in 1925. During the years 1926 through 1946 in years when the Mi ...

) *

Melissa De Sousa Melissa De Sousa is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Shelby in the 1999 romantic comedy-drama film '' The Best Man'', its 2013 sequel ''The Best Man Holiday'' and the 2022 Peacock series '' The Best Man: The Final Chapters ...

as Karen Krantz (

Miss New York The Miss New York scholarship competition selects the representative for the state of New York in the Miss America scholarship competition. In the fall of 2018, the Miss America Organization terminated the Miss New York organization's license ...

) * Asia De Marcos as Alana Krewson (

Miss Hawaii The Miss Hawaii competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the State of Hawaii in the Miss America pageant, and the name of the title held by that winner. Hawaii first competed at Miss America in 1948 and has twice won the M ...

) *

Steve Monroe Steven Monroe (born October 30, 1972) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, and practicing psychotherapist. He has a number of television credits to his name, including guest roles on such series as '' 7th Heaven'', ''CSI: Crime Scene Invest ...

as Frank Tobin *

as FBI Assistant Director Harry McDonald *

John DiResta John DiResta is an American former New York Transit police officer turned comedian, and actor. Career He was the title star of a short-lived UPN sitcom called '' DiResta'' from 1998-1999. He has appeared in several films, including '' Miss Con ...

as Agent Clonsky

Production

Development

Ellen DeGeneres Ellen Lee DeGeneres ( ; born January 26, 1958) is an American comedian, television host, actress, writer, and producer. She starred in the sitcom ''Ellen'' from 1994 to 1998, which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for " The Puppy Episode". Sh ...

claims that the writer was inspired when watching her training to walk in

high heels High-heeled shoes, also known as high heels, are a type of shoe with an angled sole. The heel in such shoes is raised above the ball of the foot. High heels cause the legs to appear longer, make the wearer appear taller, and accentuate the ...

and a

dress A dress (also known as a frock or a gown) is a garment traditionally worn by women or girls consisting of a skirt with an attached bodice (or a matching bodice giving the effect of a one-piece garment). It consists of a top piece that covers ...

in preparation for the Emmys.

Casting

8 actors read for the part of Eric Matthews, including

Hugh Jackman Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian actor. Beginning in theatre and television, he landed his breakthrough role as James "Logan" Howlett / Wolverine in the 20th Century Fox ''X-Men'' film series (2000–2017), a role ...

Filming

The story is set in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

. Scenes showing the exterior of the St. Regis New York, as well as a few street scenes, were shot on location in New York, and

Weehawken, New Jersey Weehawken is a Township (New Jersey), township in the North Hudson, New Jersey, northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located largely on the Hudson Palisades overlooking the North River ...

. The Alamo and River Walk scenes were shot on location in San Antonio. The majority of the film was shot in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

: scenes depicting the interior of the St. Regis were shot in Austin's

Driskill Hotel The Driskill, a Romanesque-style building completed in 1886,

; the pageant scenes were shot at the Bass Concert Hall at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

; and scenes depicting the pageant contestants in their hotel rooms were shot in the Omni Austin at South Park.

Distribution

''Miss Congeniality'' was distributed by

in most countries, and by

Roadshow Entertainment Roadshow Entertainment (formerly known as Roadshow Home Video from 1982–1993) is an Australian home video, production and distribution company that is a division of Village Roadshow (formerly Roadshow Home Video and Roadshow Entertainment) t ...

in Australia and New Zealand.

Reception

Box office

The film was the fifth highest-grossing film in North America on its opening weekend, making US$13.9 million. It had a 5% increase in earnings the following week—enough to make the film reach #3. Overall, it was a

box office A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicke ...

hit, grossing more than $106 million in the United States, and more than $212 million worldwide.

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

the film has an approval rating of 41% based on review from 116 critics. The critical consensus reads: "Though critics say Bullock is funny and charming, she can't overcome a bad script that makes the movie feel too much like a fluffy, unoriginal sitcom." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

the film has a score of 43 out of 100, based on reviews from 20 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences surveyed by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...

gave the film a grade of "A−". A. O. Scott of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' described it as "a standard-issue fish-out-of-water comedy" which "seems happily, deliberately second-rate, as if its ideal audience consisted of weary airline passengers".

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

for the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

'' wrote: "It isn't bad so much as it lacks any ambition to be more than it so obviously is" although he had some praise for Sandra Bullock's performance. It was nominated for several awards, including two

Golden Globes The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

earned a nod for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy/Musical, and

Bosson Staffan Olsson (born 21 February 1969), better known by his stage name Bosson, is a Swedish singer-songwriter. Early life His stage name comes from the fact that his father's first name is Bo – hence he is Bo's son. Career Bosson first gaine ...

's " One in a Million" was nominated for Best Original Song in a Motion Picture.

Home media

The film's first

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

edition, released in 2001, included two audio commentaries, some

deleted scene A deleted scene is footage that has been removed from the final version of a film or television show. There are various reasons why these scenes are deleted, which include time constraints, relevance, quality or a dropped story thread. A similar o ...

s, the

theatrical trailer A trailer (also known as a preview, coming attraction or attraction video) is a commercial advertisement, originally for a feature film that is going to be exhibited in the future at a movie theater/cinema. It is a product of creative and tech ...

, and two documentaries about the making of the film. A deluxe-edition DVD, released in 2005, featured different cover art and contained the same features as the other DVD version plus a quiz hosted by William Shatner and a sneak peek at the upcoming sequel. In 2009, a double feature edition was released that included the

Sequel

A sequel, '' Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous'', was released on March 24, 2005. The film starred

Regina King Regina Rene King (born January 15, 1971) is an American actress and director. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and four Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2019, ''Time'' magazine named her one ...

Enrique Murciano Enrique Ricardo Murciano (born July 9, 1973) is an American actor. He is known for his role as FBI agent Danny Taylor in the CBS mystery drama series ''Without a Trace'' from 2002 to 2009. Early life and education Born and raised in Miami, Fl ...

Diedrich Bader Karl Diedrich Bader (born December 24, 1966) is an American actor and comedian who is best known for his comedy roles. He has appeared as a series regular in television sitcoms ''The Drew Carey Show'', ''American Housewife'', and '' Outsourced'' ...

, and

Treat Williams Richard Treat Williams (born December 1, 1951) is an American actor, writer and aviator who has appeared on film, stage and television in over 120 credits. He first became well known for his starring role in the 1979 musical film '' Hair'', and la ...

. The sequel was less successful both critically and commercially, earning only $101.3 million.

Soundtrack

# " One in a Million" -

(3:30) # "If Everybody Looked the Same" -

Groove Armada Groove Armada are an English electronic music duo, composed of Andy Cato and Tom Findlay. They achieved chart success with their singles "At the River", "I See You Baby" and "Superstylin'". The duo have released nine studio albums, four of whic ...

(3:40) # "

She's a Lady "She's a Lady" is a song written by Paul Anka and released on his album ''Paul Anka '70s'' (RCA 4309, 1970). The most successful recording was performed by Tom Jones and released at the beginning of 1971. It is Jones's highest-charting single in t ...

(The BT Remix)" - Tom Jones (4:21) # "Anywhere USA" - P.Y.T. (4:06) # "

Dancing Queen "Dancing Queen" is a Europop and disco song by the Swedish group ABBA, released as the lead single from their fourth studio album, ''Arrival'' (1976). It was written by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Stig Anderson. Andersson and Ulvaeus al ...

" -

A-Teens A-Teens (stylized as A★TEENS or A*Teens) were a Swedish pop music group from Stockholm, Sweden, formed by Niklas Berg in 1998 originally as an ABBA tribute band called ABBA-Teens and was later renamed A-Teens. The band members were Marie Serne ...

(3:50) # "

Let's Get It On ''Let's Get It On'' is the thirteenth studio album by American soul singer, songwriter, and producer Marvin Gaye. It was released on August 28, 1973, by the Motown subsidiary label Tamla Records on LP. Recording sessions for the album took pla ...

" - Red Venom (3:26) # "Get Ya Party On" -

Baha Men The Baha Men are a Bahamian junkanoo band formed in New Providence, Bahamas in 1977. They are best known for their Grammy Award-winning hit song "Who Let the Dogs Out". History Early years The Baha Men formed in 1977 as High Voltage, initia ...

(3:20) # "

None of Your Business "None of Your Business" is the third single released from Salt-n-Pepa's fourth studio album, ''Very Necessary''. It was written and produced by Hurby Azor and earned the group its first Grammy Award. The song is included on the 1996 '' Barb Wi ...

" -

Salt 'N' Pepa Salt-N-Pepa (also stylized as Salt 'N' Pepa or Salt 'N Pepa) is an American hip-hop group formed in New York City in 1985, that comprised Salt (Cheryl James), Pepa (Sandra Denton), and DJ Spinderella (Deidra Roper). Their debut album, ''Hot, C ...

(3:34) # " Mustang Sally" - The Commitments (4:59) # "Bullets" -

Bob Schneider Bob Schneider (born October 12, 1965) is an Austin, Texas–based musician and former lead singer of the rock band Ugly Americans. He has released around a dozen albums, mostly on his own Shockorama label. ''Lonelyland'' (2001) was license ...

(4:25) # "Liquored Up and Lacquered Down" -

Southern Culture on the Skids Southern Culture on the Skids, also sometimes known as SCOTS, is an American rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Originally a straightforward roots rock band, they became known as a tongue-in-cheek "party band" with an exaggerated "white ...

(2:26) # "Miss United States ( Berman Brothers Mix)" -

(3:38) # "One in a Million (Bostrom Mix)" - Bosson (3:33)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Miss Congeniality 2000 films 2000 action comedy films 2000 comedy films 2000s police comedy films American action comedy films Films about beauty pageants Castle Rock Entertainment films 2000s English-language films Films about the Federal Bureau of Investigation Films about women in the United States Films directed by Donald Petrie Films produced by Sandra Bullock Films scored by Edward Shearmur Films set in San Antonio Films shot in New Jersey Films shot in San Antonio Films shot in Texas Films set in 1982 Films with screenplays by Marc Lawrence Village Roadshow Pictures films Warner Bros. films 2000s American films