Miss Congeniality

With a plot that's as by-the-numbers as possible, Donald Petrie's latest transcends mediocrity (barely) on the basis of two good performances. Sandra Bullock's Gracie Hart is a tomboy FBI agent forced to go undercover, with the horrifying name of Gracie Lou Freebush, at the Miss USA pageant. As a take-no-shit Jersey girl, she's averse to the airhead inanities of pageant life. But after spending time with the other 49 gals -- surprise! -- she comes to appreciate their inner goodness and realizes that she too wants world peace. Bullock also wins the physical-comedy competition -- it's something that female leads don't often attempt, but the pph (pratfall-per-hour) ratio here is off the charts. Michael Caine puts in the second fine performance as the foppish beauty consultant charged with Gracie's makeover -- you can almost smell the gin on his breath. Otherwise, except for a few good lines ("Why is New Jersey called the Garden State? Because they couldn't fit `Oil and Petrochemical Refinery State' on the license plate?") and a Midnight Cowboy allusion that will doubtless sail over most audience members' heads, the comedy here is congenial at best. At the Copley Place, the Fenway, the Fresh Pond, and the Chestnut Hill and in the suburbs.

-- Mike Miliard