She’s Hollywood’s sweetheart, the girl next-door, and a classy leading lady. Sandra Bullock proves once again that all these titles are very fitting, but she was the only excuse to even want to check out this sequel to the 2000 original film, Miss Congeniality. After Agent Gracie Hart successfully disarmed the big threat against the Miss United States Pageant in the first film, the undercover FBI agent became a familiar face, a media celebrity and a role model for young women everywhere. Because of her popularity, her undercover status has been blown unless in complete disguise. Hart lets the stardom go to her head as she enjoys all the pampering, and make-up products and hair salons become her new life. She goes on talk shows promoting her new book and becomes the new face of the FBI PR Department.
Under all the glamour, Gracie Hart’s personal life is in shambles. She is recovering from a broken hearted romance coupled with the frustration that sets in because the FBI work she loves so much has been jeopardized by the fame she has gained. Her new partner Sam Fuller is an ambitious, tough-talking, assertive woman, played by Regina King, who has issues with Hart because she has turned into a cover girl Barbie-Doll type female rather than her more respectable former-FBI self.
Gracie Hart’s best friends, pageant winner Cheryl Frazier (Heather Burns) and Stan Fields (William Shatner) are kidnapped in Vegas, which sets Hart off to go back to her old tough FBI tactics. But Hart’s FBI supervisors don’t want to risk all the public relations she has given them and practically forbids her from getting involved. Against everyone’s wishes Hart breaks the rules and is determined to help her friends.
Miss Congeniality 2 is as corny as Bullock’s cute snorting laugh (Agent Gracie Hart’s trademark), however, as executive producer of the film, Bullock casting herself as the leading lady is the only reason the movie barely keeps its head above water while still sinking. Bullock delivers her lines flawlessly and seems to have her own genuine comedic style, but she absolutely needs to find better-written material.
Actually, all of the actor’s such as Regina King (Agent Sam Fuller), Ernie Hudson (Supervisor McDonald) and Diedrich Bader (Gracie’s personal stylist, Joel), do a wonderful job. However, the script was totally appalling. The movie never should even been made with horrible writing like that. It was weak and the film’s great actors had absolutely nothing to work with. William Shatner (Stan Fields) is useless and his written dialogue is hopeless. The art of comedic formula is industry standard and was probably just enough to squeak under the radar as an actual movie.
The reason it was made is obvious. Bullock is executive producer and made millions off her first Miss Congeniality film, labeled as a cute romantic comedy. Bullock has adapted impeccably to her craft as an actress but needs to stop making poor executive decisions in creating movies of this extremely low-budget caliber. This is one film that will go straight to DVD immediately, and unfortunately people will still buy it.
In past films, Bullock has engaged audiences world-wide and she is such a likable person, yet her writers did her an injustice that even her mass appeal couldn’t overcome.
This particular screening was given at AMC Theatres in the Fenway and the cinema staff had to work hard to settle down a rowdy crowd, due to a bad print of the film that was heavily flawed, where snapping, crackling speaker sounds and mismatched soundtrack and film sound made the movie even more disturbing in its first ten minutes, which is usually supposed to be the most engaging part of a film to draw the audience into the story plot. The only entertainment was the rowdy popcorn throwing, juju-bee pelting, bon-bon hurling crowd, who emptied out half of the cinema in the first 15 minutes of the movie.