JOHN PASQUIN

Bil’s rating (out of 5):  BB. 

USA/Australia, 2005.  Castle Rock Entertainment, Village Roadshow Pictures, Fortis Films.  Screenplay by Marc Lawrence, based on characters created by Marc Lawrence, Katie Ford, Caryn Lucas.  Cinematography by Peter Menzies Jr..  Produced by Sandra Bullock, Marc Lawrence.  Music by John Van Tongeren. Production Design by Maher Ahmad.  Costume Design by Deena Appel.  Film Editing by Garth Craven.  

Three weeks after she prevented a murder from happening at the Miss America pageant, Gracie Hart (Sandra Bullock, returning to the role that brought her critical acclaim) finds her famous, high-profile image works against her efforts as an undercover FBI agent. She decides to follow the advice of her boss (Ernie Hudson) and become the “face” of the FBI, leaving her tough ways behind and turning into a repeat guest on talk-shows with a new supermodel style and flighty attitude. She’s kicked back into action when her old friend Miss America (Heather Burns) and the pageant’s emcee (William Shatner) are kidnapped and held for ransom, taking Gracie to Las Vegas where she has to do some helpful P.R. for the case and suffer the company of her bad-attitude bodyguard (Regina King). Eventually, these two end up on the trail of the mystery while the haughty director of operations in Vegas (Treat Williams) tries to get them both kicked out of the state of Nevada. Silly situations and a boring plot hamper the fun in this low-rent sequel, a huge let-down from the great time that was had the first time around. A sequence where the two ladies have to pretend to be drag queens (thanks, I already saw Connie And Carla) threatens to be hilarious, particularly with the magnificent King doing a ripping Tina Turner impersonation, but even this gives way quickly to a terrible final act and anticlimactic finish. There’s The Jewel Of The Nile, Legally Blonde 2 and now this mostly boring comedy to add to the list of the worst sequels to great films.