These days, Sandra Bullock is basically Hollywood royalty. She’s an Academy Award winner who’s been nominated for the Best Actress Oscar twice, makes pretty consistently good movies, occasionally pops up in buzzy projects like “The Lost City” and “Ocean’s Eight,” and is one of the most recognizable performers in the entire industry. Back in the 1990s and 2000s, though, Bullock was pretty much known for one genre: romantic comedies. Now, one of her funniest, breeziest films is making waves on Netflix after landing in the number four spot on the streamer’s top 10 movies on February 10, 2025 (as reported by FlixPatrol).
“Miss Congeniality,” which hit theaters in 2000, casts Bullock as Gracie Hart, a tough-as-nails special agent for the FBI who never makes much of an effort to appear “ladylike” or “pretty.” This approach isn’t causing any problems for her generally, but when a case surfaces that involves a bomb threat at a Texas beauty pageant, the bureau decides to gussy up Gracie, install her as Miss New Jersey (since that contestant is about to get disqualified anyway), and make her go undercover to figure out who’s behind the threat. Though she’s resistant at first and really puts up a fight with her pageant coach Victor Melling (a divinely funny Michael Caine), Gracie ends up unexpectedly making friends at the pageant and ultimately learns that sisterhood is important … and that her new friends aren’t as superficial as she initially thought.
Honestly, “Miss Congeniality” is a charming, funny movie elevated by its performances — but what did critics think of it when it first came out? Not much, apparently.
Miss Congeniality was a critical miss, but it’s one of Sandra Bullock’s most beloved movies
Critics were harsh about “Miss Congeniality” when it first came out. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film only has a 41% rating on the Tomatometer — officially making it “rotten” — and the critical consensus declares, “Though critics say [Sandra] Bullock is funny and charming, she can’t overcome a bad script that makes the movie feel too much like a fluffy, unoriginal sitcom.” Roger Ebert apparently had a similar idea; as he wrote in his review, “It isn’t bad so much as it lacks any ambition to be more than it so obviously is.” Writing for The Washington Post, Michael O’Sullivan was much meaner: “The jokes are lame, the set-up is stupid and Bullock, occasionally a winsome comedienne and here a co-producer, is annoying as heck.”
Despite the rough overall rating, a handful of critics actually had nice things to say about “Miss Congeniality.” For Time Out, Derek Adams simply wrote, “While there may not be many surprises, there’s little to dislike either.” Elsewhere, William Thomas at Empire Magazine seemed to genuinely enjoy it, writing, “A genuine crowdpleaser boasting a charming star turn, ‘Miss Congeniality’ is indeed difficult to dislike, but hey, sometimes it’s worth the effort.” Mark Savlov, reviewing the movie for The Austin Chronicle, even gave a shoutout to Bullock specifically: “It’s a measure of [Bullock’s] comic talent that she makes this creamy slip of a film as genuinely engaging as it is.”
No matter what critics said about “Miss Congeniality” when it came out, it’s still a staple of Bullock’s filmography; just pay attention to social media every year when, on April 25, everyone posts the clip of Heather Burns’ Miss Rhode Island, Cheryl Frasier, misunderstanding a question about a “perfect date.” (As she says, April 25 is the perfect date because “it’s not too cold” and “not too hot,” and “all you need is a light jacket.”)
Unfortunately, Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous was a total misfire
Sometimes, a sequel is just a terrible idea. Sadly, this was definitely true for the sequel to “Miss Congeniality,” which bears the subtitle “Armed and Fabulous” and brings Sandra Bullock, Ernie Hudson, and Heather Burns back alongside newcomers Regina King and Diedrich Bader. This time, Gracie’s secret identity as an FBI agent is blown after she tries returning to the field (what with her prior beauty pageant escapades having made her somewhat infamous), which leads to her becoming a “spokeswoman” for the FBI under some duress and getting her own bodyguard, Sam Fuller (King). When Cheryl and the pageant’s host from the first film, Stan Fields (a returning William Shatner), are kidnapped for ransom, Gracie and Sam have to go to Las Vegas to rescue them.
“Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous” only has a 16% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which is particularly bad, and critics didn’t hold back. Writing for RogerEbert.com, Richard Roeper probably put it best when he stated, “This, to me, is a classic example of a sequel that was just made because the first one made money. I didn’t even like the first one.” Wesley Morris, writing for The Boston Globe, made the correct assertion that “nothing with so many people in drag should feel this draggy,” while Roger Ebert was similarly blunt in his review for the Chicago Sun-Times: “There is no good reason to go and actually see it.”
The critics were right, unfortunately; “Miss Congeniality 2” sort of stinks. (Poor King, years before she scored an Emmy for “Watchmen” and an Oscar for “If Beale Street Could Talk,” ended up in this and “Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde,” saddling her with two bad sequels that never match the heights of their predecessors.) The first movie, which is actually fun, is crushing it on Netflix now.
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