Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous

Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous (also known as simply Miss Congeniality 2) is a 2005 American comedy film directed by John Pasquin, written and produced by Marc Lawrence, and starring Sandra Bullock, Regina King, Enrique Murciano, William Shatner, Ernie Hudson, Heather Burns, Diedrich Bader, and Treat Williams. It is the sequel to the 2000 film Miss Congeniality.

Miss Congeniality 2:
Armed and Fabulous
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJohn Pasquin
Produced bySandra Bullock
Marc Lawrence
Written byMarc Lawrence
Based onCharacters
by Marc Lawrence
Katie Ford
Caryn Lucas
Starring
Music byJohn Van Tongeren
CinematographyPeter Menzies Jr.
Edited byGarth Craven
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures (United States)
Roadshow Entertainment (Australia & New Zealand)
Release date
  • March 24, 2005 (2005-03-24) (United States)
Running time
115 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$60 million[1]
Box office$101.3 million[2]

Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous was released by Warner Bros. Pictures on March 24, 2005 and grossed over $101 million worldwide, and received negative reviews from critics.

Plot

Several weeks after the events of the first film, in which FBI agent, Gracie Hart infiltrated the Miss United States beauty pageant, her new-found fame results in her cover being blown while she is trying to prevent a bank heist.

To capitalize on Gracie's publicity the FBI decide to make her the new "face" of the bureau. After being dumped by her boyfriend, fellow agent Eric Matthews (who gets relocated to Miami) Gracie agrees to the reassignment.

When FBI agent, Sam Fuller gets relocated to New York City from Chicago, Gracie doesn't take to her at all. The feeling seems to be mutual as the FBI eventually makes Sam Gracie's bodyguard, much to Sam's disgust.

Ten months later, Gracie begins appearing on morning television shows, such as Live with Regis and Kelly, The Oprah Winfrey Show and the Food Channel, giving out fashion advice and promoting her book.

However, when Gracie's friends, Cheryl Fraser (the current Miss United States) and Stan Fields are kidnapped in Las Vegas, she goes undercover to try to rescue them, accompanied by Sam who is following up on her own lead after video footage of the abduction suggests that Fields was the target rather than Cheryl. This puts Gracie at odds with the FBI, who are unwilling to lose their mascot and are unsure if she's still up to the task.

The kidnappers move Cheryl and Stan to the ship at the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino which they plan to sink. Soon afterwards, Gracie, Sam and Joel (Gracie's new stylist) arrive at the Oasis Drag club where they end up singing Tina Turner songs and are given Cheryl and Stan's location by a contestant dressed as Dolly Parton. It is then up to Gracie to save the day once more, this time with the help of agent Sam.

Cast

Production

Sandra Bullock and writer Marc Lawrence initially had no plans for a sequel. While working on Two Weeks Notice, Bullock and Lawrence joked about ideas for a Miss Congeniality sequel, some of which "weren't that far-fetched" according to Bullock. Las Vegas was featured in an early version of the first film, but was ultimately written out of the script. A five-week shoot in southern Nevada began on April 12, 2004.[3] Approximately half of the film's scenes were scheduled to be shot in Las Vegas.[4]

Major filming locations included the Treasure Island and Venetian resorts.[3][4][5] Scenes shot at Treasure Island included its Sirens of TI pirate show, which had never been featured in a film before and was closed to the public for filming.[6] Other filming locations included the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign and the Klondike Hotel and Casino.[4] In May 2004, filming took place at the Lloyd D. George Federal District Courthouse, which served as FBI headquarters within the film.[7] Filming in Las Vegas concluded in mid-May 2004, and moved to Los Angeles for six weeks of shooting, followed by a brief shoot in New York.[7] Bullock also produced the film,[3][7] and said, "It does make for a schizophrenic experience. There are times when I'd rather be performing."[3]

Bullock commented during the film's promotion on the type of story she wanted to tell:

I want women to be able to do the same thing that men get to do in comedies and say, 'That's a comedy.' Why does it always have to be a romantic comedy? Why does the girl have to end up with the guy? Why can't it be a buddy film?

Reception

Box office

The film grossed $101 million worldwide.[2]

Critical response

The film was panned by critics. On Rotten Tomatoes it has an approval rating of 15% based on 147 reviews. The critical consensus reads: "Sandra Bullock is still as appealing as ever; too bad the movie is not pageant material."[8] On Metacritic the film has a score of 34 out of 100, based on reviews from 33 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[9] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B.[10]

Robert Koehler of Variety called the film "Lame and inoffensive".[11] Roger Ebert for the Chicago Sun-Times calls the sequel "doubly unnecessary" and says "there is no good reason to go and actually see it."[12]

References
  1. "Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous (2005) - Financial Information". The-numbers.com. Retrieved 2016-03-13.
  2. "Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous (2005)". Box Office Mojo. 2005-07-07. Retrieved 2016-09-24.
  3. Cling, Carol (April 12, 2004). "Shooting Stars: Production on Bullock's 'Miss Congeniality 2' set to start". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on March 12, 2005.
  4. Cling, Carol (April 19, 2004). "Shooting Stars: 'Congeniality' continues work; 'Crossfire,' 'Tonight Show' on way". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on October 30, 2004.
  5. Cling, Carol (April 26, 2004). "Shooting Stars: NBC drama 'Las Vegas' prepares to film exterior scenes". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on November 14, 2004.
  6. Cling, Carol (May 3, 2004). "Shooting Stars: 'Miss Congeniality 2' prepares to film at Treasure Island". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on December 22, 2004.
  7. Cling, Carol (May 10, 2004). "Shooting Stars: 'Miss Congeniality 2' set to exit as 'Tonight Show' set to arrive". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on December 22, 2004.
  8. "Miss Congeniality 2 - Armed and Fabulous (2005)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2020-10-15.
  9. "Miss Congeniality 2: Armed & Fabulous" – via www.metacritic.com.
  10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-12-20. Retrieved 2019-02-25.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. Koehler, Robert (March 20, 2005). "Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous".
  12. Ebert, Roger. "Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous movie review (2005) | Roger Ebert". www.rogerebert.com.
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