Reviews

Films

Miss Congeniality

Directed by Donald Petrie, starring Sandra Bullock, Michael Caine

Sandra Bullock is the go-to-girl for inoffensive films that kill time rather than stagger or entertain. The image she likes to cling to is the slightly quirky, slightly rough-around-the-edges kind of lass who scrubs up quite nicely if need be and wins the heart of the principle heartthrob. Miss Congeniality is a factory-made vehicle for the While You Where Sleeping star - a movie about a quirky, rough-around-the-edges FBI agent who has to go undercover in a beauty contest, which necessitates that she scrubs up nicely.

Agent Grace (Bullock) is a graceless slob that is the antithesis of the girls that fill the pages of fashion magazines. She's tough, dedicated and unkempt. But when a terrorist group is believed to have infiltrated a beauty pageant, Gracie is chosen as the one to enter the contest and snoop around. A consultant (Michael Caine) is brought in to transform Gracie from slummer to stunner and in the process not only will our heroine take on bad guys, she'll also question her negative perception of those who prefer the high heels and lipstick approach to feminism.

Michael Caine is, once again, good enough to almost elevate this mostly unfunny comedy above the mire of mediocrity. Almost. Unfortunately, this is a movie that has no real ambition to be anything but ordinary. Bullock owns these kinds of roles and again here, she is charming without being memorable. A few giggles can be had at the expense of William Shatner (in a self-deprecating turn) while on the other hand, Gracie's eventual love interest, Benjamin Bratt, gets paid to smile and act all hunky-like.

Ben Davey

The Dukes of Hazzard

Directed by Jay Chandrasekhar, starring Johnny Knoxville, Seann William Scott

I hope that during one of Burt Reynolds's many plastic surgery procedures that he was wise enough to have an extra set of eyes installed in the back of his head. Otherwise I have no idea how he can shave his stretched face, of which the beardline which must now border way behind his ears. Old Burt looks terrible playing the villain Boss Hogg in this big screen version of a 1970s TV show. To say that he is still the best thing that The Dukes of Hazzard has to offer is a sad indication of what's in stall for all who dare press play.

Bo (Seann William Scott) and Luke Duke (Johnny Knoxville) are cousins, you see - fun-lovin' southern boys that drive around in a supercharged V8, deliver moonshine for their uncle and get into fights at the bar where their other cousin, Daisy Duke (Jessica Simpson) works. But when they are kicked off their farm on trumped-up charges by the crooked enforcer Hogg (Reynolds), the two boys uncover an evil scheme that would see the whole town of Hazzard reduced to a strip-mine. Oh, and there's also a motor race thrown in as a subplot.

To fill the many gaps between actual story development, we are treated to loads of yahoo-ing amid myriad car chase scenes and shots of Jessica Simpson's barely clad body. Problem is, the car chases are monotonous and Simpson comes across as more an awkward dullard than a sexy belle. The two leads, Scott and Knoxville, holler a great deal but with all of the conviction of grown men who realize how silly they must look. And even though the sight of old Burt's mug might frighten children, Scott's synthetic beard might get them giggling again.

BD

(China Daily 10/10/2007 page20)