December 22, 2000
Castle Rock etc.
Comedy, Action
VHS
B-
I don't enjoy this movie as much as I did at the time, but it remains entertaining, due mostly to the title character, AKA Gracie Hart, as played by 36-year-old Sandra Bullock. It is very much a product of its time, from the clumsy coming out of a character on live TV, to Gracie's makeover and subsequent winning over of her cute but unkind boss (Benjamin Bratt). I'm not using the "romance" tag though because their relationship is almost an afterthought compared to her father-daughter-like bonding with her stylist, Michael Caine as Victor Melling, and all the female bonding with sloppy, butch (but soft-hearted) Gracie and the other beauty contestants. William Shatner and Candice Bergen have some nice moments as pageant veterans who are being forced into retirement. But mostly this is Bullock's show, whether she's dressed for playing musical glasses or dressed figuratively and literally to kill. I have seen the sequel (which drops the Bratt character) and found it pretty good, but I probably won't buy it.
Steve Monroe, who plays Frank Tobin, was one of the sons in the father-son therapy group in Austin Powers. Heather Burns, who's sweet and funny as Cheryl (Miss Rhode Island), would also be in Bullock's Two Weeks Notice, which would be not only written but directed by one of the co-writers here, Marc Lawrence. (Not to be confused with the older actor who played a villain in Goin' Coconuts, Foul Play, and Super Fuzz.)
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