Review of Miss Congeniality (2000) by Niloo R — 21 Jul 2014

I used to love this movie when I was younger. watching it now, I can see that it definitely is flawed in many ways, but still holds up rather well as a feel-good rom-com with an interesting premise (for it's time).

yes, it's simplistic, and cliched in many ways, but there are some good laughs, and sandra bullock is likeable enough as the tough-cop turned beauty queen. what bothers me A LOT about this film is her romance with benjamin bratt - first of all - was there no one more attractive to do this role? benjamin bratt is not leading-man material, and as this is a cookie-cutter romance without much character development or nuanced performance, appearances matter! I would be able to get past this if it wasn't for miss congeniality 2 - having bratt dump bullock in the first scene of that film completely undermines the entire premise and payoff of this film.

this is a sad example of the consequences of a bad sequel - not only did that film fail completely on it's own, but it actually devalued this film and made it worse.