Yes, it’s congenial. But what more can you say about this light-as-a-feather comedy that’s neither ambitious nor particularly original in its humour? Sandra Bullock is charming, but her half-hearted efforts to play against type are starting to wear thin. In 28 Days and now here in Miss Congeniality, Bullock has played women who don’t quite fit the ‘pretty girl’ mould, first as a booze and drug addict, and now as a tough-girl tomboy FBI agent. But in both cases, Bullock stays pretty darn close to the shallow end of the pool. Despite what appears to be a conscious effort to do something more than just one sickly-sweet romantic comedy role after another, Bullock has still never really challenged herself. By choosing scripts lacking depth, Bullock isn’t establishing herself as an actor who wants to be challenged. She’s like a routine-bound diner who has breakfast at Denny’s every day, but considers it daring that she orders her eggs sunny-side-up some days and easy-over on others.
This time out, she plays Gracie Hart, an FBI agent who’s tough and homely (glasses and bad hair provide the usual clichéd not-so-ugly duckling façade). After bungling a bust, Gracie is assigned to a desk job, until a terrorist threatens to attack at a beauty pageant. Now Gracie must be transformed into a pretty-girl contestant in order to go undercover and save the day. Much of the comedy – most of it, in fact – comes from the attempt to transform her from tomboy to Miss New Jersey. And many of the laughs – there are quite a few – come from Michael Caine's portrayal of the pageant consultant who is brought in to bring about the transformation. These scenes are predictably funny. It’s obvious stuff, but still a lot of fun. Between Caine’s bon mots and Bullock’s physical humour, we’re kept reasonably entertained.
But there’s nothing new here. It’s just another ‘fish out of water’ comedy and just another ‘Bullock stumbling around trying to get out of trouble’ role for the likeable star. Could Bullock make serious movies, or at least seriously different comedies, and succeed? We don’t know. There have been enough hints – particularly in the darker-than-expected 1999 romantic comedy Forces of Nature that the answer just might be ‘yes’, but there isn’t any way of saying if she never tries.
Same goes for Benjamin Bratt. After a television career that mainly involved playing cops, he has taken on a higher big-screen profile, but thus far hasn’t shown whether he’s more than a nice smile, menacing frown and big muscles. Roles like this one – as Gracie’s fellow FBI agent and potential love interest – and his turns in films like The Next Best Thing and Red Planet don’t provide him with much opportunity to distinguish himself (Bratt’s appearance in the superior Traffic is far too brief to count as a full-fledged trip to the challenging side).
If you love Bullock fluff, then you’ll love Miss Congeniality. But wouldn’t you love even more to see whether she can really act?
If you love Sandra Bullock fluff, then you’ll love Miss Congeniality. But wouldn’t you love even more to see whether she can really act?- Brian Webster
