Movie Review:
Miss Congeniality
2:
Armed and Fabulous
by Lynn B.
She
snorts when she laughs, she sings, she dresses like Big Bird and conquers
Las Vegas!
Miss
“C” 2: Armed & Fabulous begins a short while
after Gracie Hart (Sandra Bullock) was named runner-up at the Miss
United States pageant while working as an FBI undercover agent. The
big win earned Gracie a celeb status and she’s often recognized
on the street which doesn’t help her undercover activities.
Her boyfriend from the last movie has just dumped her so she’s,
well… in the dumps.
Since
she’s so popular, Gracie is asked to take on a new job as the
“face of the FBI”, doing press junkets and touring the
celeb rounds on TV, etc. Feeling she has no choice, she launches into
her new job and has great success. Her new bodyguard/partner is tough
as nails agent Sam Fuller (Regina King) and the two blend like oil
and water. When two thugs kidnap Gracie’s friend, the reigning
Miss United States (Heather Burns) and the pageant emcee (William
Shatner) in a ransom plot, Gracie insists on being assigned to the
case.
The assignment
takes Gracie, Sam and Gracie’s effeminate stylist (Diedrich
Bader) to Las Vegas where they go undercover in a nursing home (with
Gracie as an hilarious old lady) and to a cross dresser stage show
where they pose as a Tina Turner impersonator and showgirls. Complicating
things are a nervous FBI rookie (Enrique Murciano) and a glory hound
FBI commander (Treat Williams).
There
is nothing new to the kidnap plot of this film and some of the chases
and gags are illogical (why would Regina, playing Tina Turner, need
a showgirl as a backup singer?) or even silly, like a chase involving
finding a cross dressing dude posing as Dolly Parton. When trapped
underwater by her feathered costume, why doesn’t Gracie just
take the darn thing off and swim to safety? But, ignoring all this,
Sandy Bullock is just funny and sympathetic and we like her as the
tomboy Gracie, turned unwilling Barbie PR rep. She’s hilarious
as an old lady with a fake sagging chest that tosses around when she
walks. She’s funny in feathers.
Supporting
cast members are funny. Diedrich Bader is silly/cute and Regina King’s
Sam character is sympathetic once we know what makes her so angry
as revealed in a nice “slumber party” style girltalk she
has with Sandy’s character. Is the film a worthy successor to
Miss Congeniality? Not entirely but, if you like Gracie, and a ton
of people did, you can still find a lot of her personality and pratfalls
under the “Barbie” make-up.
This is
really a female buddy picture. Bullock wanted no love interest but
instead desired to focus on going into action with a gal who, at first,
seems her arch enemy but, in reality, has a lot in common with Gracie.
That development and Sandra’s skill at physical comedy and timing,
made this one work okay for me. See what you think.
This movie
is rated PG-13
Official
Movie Web Site - Miss
Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous
Pictures
courtesy of and copyright Warner Bros Inc 2005
