Miss Congeniality

Title: Miss Congeniality (2000)
Director: Donald Petrie
Genre: Comedy
Lead Actor(s): Sandra Bullock
Rating: PG-13
109 minutes

The best things this movie has going for it are Michael Caine as a pageant coach and William Shatner as a pageant host. The basic plot is that tomboy FBI agent, Gracie Hart (Sandra Bullock), is forced to go undercover at the Miss United States Pageant to stop a copy cat killer.

All though this is not the most original comedy, Sandra Bullock does have some charm as the fish-out-of-water agent. Part of her charm is her awful clumsiness and thus makes what could have been a flat, bubble-head role into one with a bit of charisma. Her one-liners have good timing and delivery, although some are very unoriginal. It’s nice that Bullock keeps her temperament and behavior characteristics consistent throughout her transformation from Gracie Hart to Gracie Lou Freebush, her pageant name.

The best moments come from Shatner and Caine. Caine takes a role so different from the ones we are used to, that part of the appeal comes from the strangeness of it. Any movie that has Michael Caine saying “Don’t I look pretty?” is going to have some mildly funny moments. Shatner pokes fun at himself without being particularly obvious. His song at the end is particularly entertaining due to Shatner’s sheer persistence.

This is not the most original comedy, but due to some funny moments from the cast and entertaining performances by Caine and Shatner, the movie is spared from becoming a Valentine’s Day or its follow-up, Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous.

**** 4/10

Billy Elliot

Title: Billy Elliot (2000)
Director: Stephen Daldry
Genre: Drama
Lead Actor(s): Jamie Bell
Rating: R
110 minutes

I saw this on Broadway while I was in New York and I have to say, the musical is better. The movie is good and the plot lines are essentially the same. The movie is set during the 1984 miners strike in England and follows a young boy, Billy Elliot (Jamie Bell), who stays behind after a boxing lesson and accidentally attends a ballet lesson and falls in love with. Growing up in a mining community, boys don’t do ballet. Billy is torn between this thing that helps his soul soar and the expectations of his family.

Although I have to say, I prefer the Billy I saw in New York (Liam Redhead), Bell does quite well with the role and brings an impressive amount of maturity to the role, especially during the riot scene and the aftermath. He is also very good at the dancing and he is able to be weaker at the beginning as he is just learning but the music seems to flow through him as the movie progresses.

Julie Walters is a wonderful actress and portrays Billy’s Ballet teacher, Mrs. Wilkinson. The role could have been rather stage-mom-ish, but Walters restrains it so Wilkinson seems to really only care about Willy’s success and well-being. She smokes like a chimney, but Walters is able to keep up and stay energetic with Billy when teaching him. She also has a great energy that allows her to both be caring and still have that cavalier sort of personality.

I can see how Elton John saw a musical in this. Without having that aspect, Stephen Daldry basically directed a musical. The movie has great musicality with very little music. He knows how to use the camera and direct the actors in such a wonderful way. He is a wonderful director that shows the most amazing promise that develops in his later movies.

Billy Elliot is a very good movie that shows great acceptance of the characters and situations. Although not perfect, it tells an interesting story in a caring manner and shows the promise.

******* 7/10

Erin Brockovich

Title: Erin Brockovich (2000)
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Genre: Biography, Drama
Lead Actor(s): Julia Roberts, Albert Finney
Rating: R
130 minutes

Julia Roberts really breaks out in this movie. She plays the titular character, Erin. After losing a lawsuit, she goes to work for her lawyer. While there she begins researching one of his cases, she uncovers that Pacific Gas and Electric has essentially been poisoning an entire town. She also tries to balance what she feels is her duty with the town and her family consisting of 3 young children and a boyfriend.

As I said Julia Roberts is astounding in this. She moved from America’s sweetheart to a bad-ass actress. She returned to the feistiness that people loved in her performance as Vivian in Pretty Woman. Erin is loud-mouthed, foul-mouthed, brash, hot-tempered, and at times, a bitch. She is always unapologetic, even when she is proven wrong. She is also strongly protective of her children. It seems her priorities are 1. work 2. kids 3. herself 4. her boyfriend.

Albert Finney is a great actor and has the crotchety old man persona down pat. This is no exception. As Erin’s boss, Finney must walk a fine line of showing anger and disapproving of Erin while still making his charitable actions not appear out-of-character. Finney does so well. Aaron Eckhart is Erin’s biker boyfriend. He has an excellent rapport with her kids and seems to truly care about them and her. My friend who watched it with me liked him more than Erin.

I really liked the movie. The directing was very good. I thought that the cinematography was especially excellent. Most of the scenes set in Hinkley seem washed out and almost dirty. This is, however, not distracting in the least. The best part of the entire movie though is Roberts’s performance. She proves her versatility and likability in practically any role. It is an excellent film.

******* 7/10