Movie Review: Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous
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 fake sagging boobs that toss 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 kicking butt 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.
For bringing back lovable Gracie Hart 3 out of 5 stars
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Lynn Barker is a Hollywood based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.
