Miss Congeniality (2000)

42% of critics liked it
(115 reviews)
71% of users liked it
(908,882 ratings)

Golden Globe-nominee Sandra Bullock ("Miss Congeniality" 1 & 2, "Crash") stars in this comedy about an FBI agent who goes undercover as a beauty contestant to thwart the efforts of a terrorist threatening to blow up the Miss USA Pageant. Co-starring Academy Award and Golden Globe-winner and… More Golden Globe-nominee Sandra Bullock ("Miss Congeniality" 1 & 2, "Crash") stars in this comedy about an FBI agent who goes undercover as a beauty contestant to thwart the efforts of a terrorist threatening to blow up the Miss USA Pageant. Co-starring Academy Award and Golden Globe-winner and Emmy-nominee Michael Caine ("Batman Begins" "The Cider House Rules"), Academy Award-nominee and Emmy and Golden Globe-winner Candice Bergen (TV's "Boston Legal," "The In-Laws"), Emmy and Golden Globe winner William Shatner (TV's "Boston Legal," "Showtime") and Emmy-nominee Benjamin Bratt ("Catwoman," TV's "Law & Order").

Play Trailer

Rating, Runtime: PG-13, 1 hr. 50 min.
Directed By: Donald Petrie
Written By: Marc Lawrence, Caryn Lucas, Katie Ford
Genres: Comedy

In Theaters: Dec 22, 2000 Wide
On DVD: Jun 1, 2004
Studio: Warner Bros.

Critic Reviews

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
Unless you think it's a riot to watch Bullock fall over herself repeatedly in high heels, this Miss is a mess.
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
Pro forma hilarity.
Rita Kempley, Washington Post
A rinky-dink comedy.
Susan Stark, Detroit News
For Bullock fans, it's a delight, jolly junk in the season to be jolly.
Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel
There's something so friendly and unabashedly silly about this production that it pretty much won me over.
John Anderson, Newsday
Bullock is just plain funny.
Nell Minow, Common Sense Media
Pleasant and entertaining; for teens and older.
Michael Dequina, TheMovieReport.com
Its story is far from logical, let alone realistic, yet we laugh and completely buy into the fun.
Jim Lane, Sacramento News & Review
Bullock's talent for gentle farce is not enough to carry her here; there are only so many times she can get a laugh out of stumbling in her high heels and talking with her mouth full.
Derek Adams, Time Out
While there may not be many surprises, there's little to dislike either.
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
Sandra Bullock (who also produces) takes a lame idea of a script, splashes her considerable allure all over it, and comes away with an amiable, light-hearted holiday charmer.
Chris Gore, Film Threat
Basically, this is like a really bad film from the eighties, that seems to be remade with Sandra Bullock digitally grafted onto the horrible plot.
Susannah Breslin, Film Threat
Miss Congeniality isn't awful, but it isn't utterly entertaining or incredibly original either, it's just right in the middle.
Nick Schager, Lessons of Darkness
Predictably cute and idiotically misleading.
Walter Chaw, Film Freak Central
Convenient bimbo stereotypes, bolstered and magnified.
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis
Miss Congeniality fairly defines the word mediocre. [Deluxe Edition Gift Set]
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis
No one does this kind of thing better than Bullock, but one wonders for how long she can pull it off. Perhaps for as long as it pays.
Brian Webster, Apollo Guide
If you're wondering whether the world was crying out for a 'deluxe edition' DVD, then you've missed the point.
James Plath, Reel.com
Maybe Sandra Bullock should have been doing full-blown comedy all along.
Jules Brenner, Cinema Signals
Sandra Bullock is in a class of her own and it's only partly a matter of beauty. Perhaps the larger part is that shining, irresistible personality that lights a room, a runway, a silver screen. She can get you interested in the phone directory.

Read all 24 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

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Featured Audience Ratings

Lanning :

Amazingly good. I could hardly believe I liked it so much this time around. Caine is terrific, and as I said when I commented on <i>The Blind Side</i>, even this one would have been a better choice for her Best Actress nomination. I just watched this again for the first… More
Amazingly good. I could hardly believe I liked it so much this time around. Caine is terrific, and as I said when I commented on <i>The Blind Side</i>, even this one would have been a better choice for her Best Actress nomination. I just watched this again for the first time in many years, and it holds up very well. This is really the kind of role where Bullock excels.
Bethany M

Very, very funny!
Jennifer X

I more or less like what this movie represents or could have been rather than what it actually is. Like, the concept of a kickass FBI agent entering a beauty pageant and finding out the true meaning of femininity is actually quite fascinating, but the film just doesn't deliver. I… More
I more or less like what this movie represents or could have been rather than what it actually is. Like, the concept of a kickass FBI agent entering a beauty pageant and finding out the true meaning of femininity is actually quite fascinating, but the film just doesn't deliver. I guess I'm not that huge of a Sandra Bullock fan.
moon r

bullock's eyes are too small, she is too skinny, and i don't know if she can act at all...so why does this creature charm me no matter what she's in??? she's the sickly cat you breakdown and finally decide to feed at your back door somehow...i really like her, i do
Conner R

While i'm nowhere near its audience, I thought it was alright and I can definitely see the appeal. Sandra Bullock might be corny at times, but she certainly has her great moments in this. The plot is definitely kooky, but it works within the genre for sure. I like the random… More
While i'm nowhere near its audience, I thought it was alright and I can definitely see the appeal. Sandra Bullock might be corny at times, but she certainly has her great moments in this. The plot is definitely kooky, but it works within the genre for sure. I like the random glamor shots of Sandra Bullock in her post make-over state, it's so overdone that it becomes effective on a whole other level.
Alice S

I was committed to watching the Sandra Bullock Saturday extravaganza on ABCFamily, but I only made it through this. The movie's fine. Sandra is likeable as she usually is. The "real" murder plot with Candace Bergen's character seems a bit extreme and in place… More
I was committed to watching the Sandra Bullock Saturday extravaganza on ABCFamily, but I only made it through this. The movie's fine. Sandra is likeable as she usually is. The "real" murder plot with Candace Bergen's character seems a bit extreme and in place because there wouldn't be a movie otherwise.
Richard C

C+
Candy R

Can you believe they can try to make Sandra ugly and dowdy then transform her! Sandra is a dowdy FBI agent who has to go undercover in a beauty contest. She's very funny!
Anthony L

Who would have thought Sandra Bullock was so beautiful without her hair up and in glasses. Well I?ll be damned!
Film C

Fantastic this i have to say is my favourite movie of sandra bullock with her in this one scene waljking in the streets and the other on the plane watching a dvd two of the funniest scenes i have ever seen! This movie is brilliant funny entertaining and a good story with sanda bullock… More
Fantastic this i have to say is my favourite movie of sandra bullock with her in this one scene waljking in the streets and the other on the plane watching a dvd two of the funniest scenes i have ever seen! This movie is brilliant funny entertaining and a good story with sanda bullock doing a brilliant performance!
Thomas B

meh
Lenny M

Good idea and characters, goofy and cheesy but it is an enjoyable movie.
Bobby H

This comedy featuring Sandra Bullock going undercover in a "Scholarship Program" (watch the movie) was a great hit, and for good reason. Sandra Bullock is funny from start to beginning, watching a hardened tom-boy try to become a beauty queen is only the start of a great… More
This comedy featuring Sandra Bullock going undercover in a "Scholarship Program" (watch the movie) was a great hit, and for good reason. Sandra Bullock is funny from start to beginning, watching a hardened tom-boy try to become a beauty queen is only the start of a great movie. It's one of the top chick-flick comedies I have seen in a long time. Overall: Movies funny, actors are great, plot is well thought. The movie is a classic, only reason I didnt get it a full five stars is because being released in 2000 it suffers from that totally predictable ending that we were all used to seeing in the 90's. It's still a great movie to own and see more then a few times. I remember watching it in theaters, and it was just as fun revisiting it today.
Daniel P

Sandra Bullock does her best J.Lo. in a role I can only hope that the latter turned down: it might have been all that made this movie watchable. Fun for a rainy afternoon with complementary work by Candice Bergen and Michael Caine (not to mention the King Ham, William Shatner), but… More
Sandra Bullock does her best J.Lo. in a role I can only hope that the latter turned down: it might have been all that made this movie watchable. Fun for a rainy afternoon with complementary work by Candice Bergen and Michael Caine (not to mention the King Ham, William Shatner), but formulaic and a little vacuous all in all.
Mason W

Miss Congeniality, starring Sandra Bullock, Michael Caine, Benjamin Bratt, and Candice Bergen is a funny movie. Sandra Bullock plays a detective whom is undercover at a beauty pageant. She is rogh around the edges and that is being nice. It is a funny movie and a good rental.
Sanjaya &

very very funny... i watched it more and more, and it stills funny to me...
Cassie H

Good Kind Of Funny!
xGary X

I have a terrible admission to make...I like Sandra Bullock. I'm not proud of it, but her brand of kooky girl next door charm is quite appealing to me. So sue me. This is a typical example of the kind of one idea formulaic comedy that I usually detest, but Michael Caine's… More
I have a terrible admission to make...I like Sandra Bullock. I'm not proud of it, but her brand of kooky girl next door charm is quite appealing to me. So sue me. This is a typical example of the kind of one idea formulaic comedy that I usually detest, but Michael Caine's amusingly disdainful gay Henry Higgins plays off Sandra really well, and there are some genuinely funny lines. Add a cheerfully self-mocking supporting cast and a knowingly tongue in cheek approach and it's at the more tolerable end of this kind of feelgood pap.
Keith A

Sandra Bullock is funny as well as tough as nails.
Dean !

Not the most original idea for this comedy but Sandra Bullock is perfect for the role. The jokes are good and mixed between one liners, slapstick, visual gags. Overall an easy to watch, enjoyable comedy for both sexes.