MISS CONGENIALITY

With a plot that’s as by-the-numbers as possible, Donald Petrie’s latest transcends mediocrity (barely) on the basis of two good performances. Sandra Bullock’s Gracie Hart is a tomboy FBI agent forced to go undercover, with the horrifying name of Gracie Lou Freebush, at the Miss USA pageant. As a take-no-shit Jersey girl, she’s averse to the airhead inanities of pageant life. But after spending time with the other 49 gals — surprise! — she comes to appreciate their inner goodness and realizes that she too wants world peace. Bullock also wins the physical-comedy competition — it’s something that female leads don’t often attempt, but the pph (pratfall-per-hour) ratio here is off the charts. Michael Caine puts in the second fine performance as the foppish beauty consultant charged with Gracie’s makeover — you can almost smell the gin on his breath. Otherwise, except for a few good lines (“Why is New Jersey called the Garden State? Because they couldn’t fit ‘Oil and Petrochemical Refinery State’ on the license plate?”) and a Midnight Cowboy allusion that will doubtless sail over most audience members’ heads, the comedy here is congenial at best.

— Mike Miliard