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Miss Congeniality is the tale of Grace Hart, an FBI agent who is less than a girlie girl. When the Miss United States Pageant is threatened the FBI decides to get involved by putting an agent into the pageant; Grace becomes Gracie Lou Freebush and is forced to become the pampered, pulled together girl she never thought she could be to try and find the terrorist. Along the way fellow agent Matthews, pageant consultant Victor and the pageant contestants make Grace realize perhaps she can be more than she thought.

First and foremost my favorite character in this entire movie is Michael Caine’s Victor Melling. Not only does Victor have the best lines in the film, but Caine is utterly convincing as a prissy, uptight gay man who cares more about posture and hair flips than finding a criminal. Caine is absolutely perfect. I would also be remiss if I didn’t comment on the entire supporting cast. William Shatner is Stan the pageant host, Candice Bergen is Kathy the pageant runner, Ernie Hudson is the FBI Assistant Director, and Benjamin Bratt is Agent Matthews. Every character is unique, quirky and utterly memorable.

Sandra Bullock is perfect as Grace Hart. So many actresses could not pull off the transformation of unrefined to super model in one film but Bullock does it, and her comedy timing is perfect. I honestly believe that the movie rides on Bullock’s shoulders and from her serious moments to pratt falls she excels.

While I doubt the sequel is worth seeing the first Miss Congeniality is incredibly entertaining.

Director: Donald Petrie
Writers: Marc Lawrence, Katie Ford, & Caryn Lucas
Gracie Hart: Sandra Bullock
Victor Melling: Michael Caine
Eric Matthews: Benjamin Bratt
Kathy Morningside: Candice Bergen
Asst. Director McDonald: Ernie Hudson
Stan Fields: William Shatner
Cheryl Fraiser: Heather Burns

Victor Melling: In place of relationships, you have sarcasm and a gun!
Gracie Hart: Oh, I have sarcasm? When every word that comes out of your mouth is dripping with disdain?
Victor Melling: Ah! But that is because I am a miserable, grumpy elitist - and that works for me!

Bride Wars is just what the name would imply. Emma & Liv are best friends since childhood and have dreamed of having June weddings at the Plaza hotel, when both their boyfriends propose they think all their wedding dreams are going to come true…until their wedding planners assistant makes the mistake of booking their weddings on the same day and time instead of two separate days. When neither Emma or Liv will move their wedding date old rivalries begin to bubble to the surface and an all out war between the friends starts.

What I really liked about Bride Wars is the pairing of Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway. Together these two women are a dynamic duo that are each capable of making the audience laugh and then bringing an emotional moment to the forefront.

I was surprised by this movie because the name Bride Wars would imply that it is about the wedding more than anything else, not about the couple or the marriage. However, this move proved to be about not just the friendship between the women, but the relationship they had with their fiancées and how each couple is weathering problems and the characters take into account how this might affect their marriage.

There is a trend in film and television now to use a still image but change the perspective or pring “life” to the image by making the background continue moving, zooming in, etc. It drives me nuts. I hate it. It looks flattened, no longer dynamic and typically sticks out like a sore thumb. Bride Wars uses this freeze framed image technique for it’s exposition sequences and that’s just far too much use of that device – this is by far my biggest bone to pick with the film.

If you’re looking for a romantic comedy with just the right amount of cheese, but with some fun chemistry in it’s cast I do think Bride Wars is a cute film. However, it’s really not my cup of tea, but I am sure plenty of girls will watch this over and over again.

Director: Gary Winick
Writer: Greg DePaul, Casey Wilson & June Diane Raphael
Liv: Kate Hudson
Emma: Anne Hathaway
Nate: Bryan Greenberg
Fletcher: Chris Pratt
Daniel: Steve Howey
Marion St. Claire: Candice Bergen
Deb: Kristen Johnston

Marion St. Claire: Sometimes in life there really are bonds formed that can never be broken. Sometimes you really can find that one person who will stand by you no matter what. Maybe you'll find it in a spouse and celebrate it with your dream wedding, but theres also the chance that the one person you can count on for a lifetime, the one person who knows you sometimes better than you know yourself is the same person who's been standing beside you all along.