In the Line of Fire (1993) - Clint and co-stars on fire in one of the decade's finest thrillers

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Star Clint Eastwood runs alongside a motorcade on a security detail on this poster for Wolfgang Petersen's In the Line of Fire

Frank was serving in the Secret Service during JFK's assassination. He is not about to see a repeat, and so he is 100 % dedicated to the hunt for a new, very competent maniac, who wants to murder the current US President!

 

In the Line of Fire is written by Jeff Maguire (Gridiron Gang (2006)) and directed by German-born American master filmmaker Wolfgang Petersen (One or the Other/Einer von uns Beiden (1982)), whose 7th feature it was. 

It is a perfect piece of thriller entertainment with Clint Eastwood (Hereafter (2010)) in top shape as the old-timer protagonist, who doesn't take no bullshit. The dialog creates sparks, and Eastwood's romance with Rene Russo (Nightcrawler (2014)) here is both elegant and sexy.

John Malkovich (Being John Malkovich (1999)) is eerie. Ennio Morricone's (The Hateful Eight (2015)) music is subdued and effective. In the Line of Fire leaves you breathless with its sophisticated, realistic thrills.

 

Related posts:

 

Wolfgang Petersen: 2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

Poseidon (2006) - Petersen's disastrous disaster flick

Top 10: Best epic movies reviewed by Film Excess to date

The Boat/Das Boot (1981) - Petersen's awe-inspiring WWII epic 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 40 mil. $

Box office: 187.3 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 4.68 times the cost)

[In the Line of Fire premiered 8 July (California) and runs 128 minutes. Eastwood was paid 7 mil. $ for his performance; Malkovich received 1 mil. $. Shooting took place from October 1992 - January 1993 in Virginia, Washington DC, Maryland, Colorado, Michigan and in California, including in Los Angeles. The film opened #3, behind holdover hits The Firm and Jurassic Park, to a 15.2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 5 weekends in the top 5 (#2-#2-#2-#3-#5), grossing 102.3 mil. $ (54.6 % of the total gross). The film was nominated for 3 Oscars, winning none. It lost Best Supporting Actor (Malkovich) to Tommy Lee Jones in The Fugitive, Editing to Schindler's List and Original Screenplay to Jane Campion for The Piano. It was also nominated for 3 BAFTAs and a Golden Globe, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, in line with this one. Petersen returned with Outbreak (1995). Eastwood returned in A Perfect World (1993). In the Line of Fire is certified fresh at 96 % with a 7.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of In the Line of Fire?

Hearts in Atlantis (2001) - Beautiful photography and performances drive Hicks' King adaptation

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A mysterious story teaser and a very popular star in Anthony Hopkins reach for our interest on this poster for Scott Hicks' Hearts in Atlantis

Bobby is a quick-witted 12 year-old boy in 1960. He lives with his inattentive mother, when a strange man named Ted moves into their house, and a series of experiences follow for Bobby.

 

Hearts in Atlantis is written by William Goldman (Chaplin (1992)), adapting the novella Low Men in Yellow Coats from the story collection Hearts in Atlantis (1999) by Stephen King (Roadwork (1981)), and directed by Scott Hicks (The Wanderer (1974)).

Behind the quizzical poster is a surprisingly good film, really beautifully photographed (by Piotr Sobocinski (Ransom (1996))), with customary neat period music. It is a rare King adaptation largely without supernatural/horror elements, (SPOILER except for the fact that Ted has psychic abilities.)

There is eminent acting between Anthony Hopkins (Red Dragon (2002)) as the melancholy-wise Ted and Anton Yelchin (Green Room (2015) as the irrefutably intelligent and charming Bobby. There are also good supporting performances from Hope Davis (Wayward Pines (2015-16)) as the flawed mother, Mika Boorem (House (2007, TV-series)) as the girl, and from Celia Weston (The Intern (2015)) and Alan Tudyk (Playing God (2021)) in single scenes.

A perfect ending is missed, as Hicks insists on an unnecessary, laughable framing story, where good David Morse (Wall Street (2014, TV movie)) as adult Bobby spells it out for us without a shade of subtlety that the events we have just witnessed would become decisive for his later life. That ending is a shame.

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 31 mil. $

Box office: 30.9 mil. $

= Huge flop (returned 0.99 times its cost)

[Hearts in Atlantis premiered 7 September (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 101 minutes. Shooting took place from October 2000 - February 2001 in Virginia. The film opened #3, behind fellow new released Don't Say a Word and Zoolander, to a 9 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its second weekend and grossed 24.1 mil. $ (78 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Spain with 1.3 mil. $ (4.2 %) and Australia with 1.1 mil. $ (3.6 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, translating to a notch over this one. Hicks returned with No Reservations (2007). Hopkins returned in Bad Company (2002). Hearts in Atlantis is rotten at 49 % with a 5.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Hearts in Atlantis?

Honeymoon in Vegas (1992) - Stars flare up in breezy romcom

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The three stars stand in a fix on top of a cardcastle in a stylized Las Vegas landscape on this poster for Andrew Bergman's Honeymoon in Vegas

Our hero is a private investigator in New York with a mother complex, who wants to keep his marriage-lusting girlfriend; so he invites her with him to Las Vegas, but he soon winds up in a real jam!

 

Honeymoon in Vegas is written and directed by Andrew Bergman (So Fine (1981)).

Sarah Jessica Parker (Failure to Launch (2006)), Nicolas Cage (Valley Girl (1983)) and James Caan (The Godfather (1972)) give charismatic performances that make this light-legged matter an if not exactly bubbly then at least entertaining and occasionally funny and sweet film. With Peter Boyle (Steelyard Blues (1973)) and Pat Morita (The Stoneman (2002)) in laughable satirical Hawaiian parts plus plot unlikelihood and Elvis impersonators galore, - all helping to save Honeymoon in Vegas from ever taking itself seriously.

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 25 mil. $

Box office: 35.2 mil. $ - North America only

= Uncertain but likely a flop (projected return of 2.16 times its cost)

[Honeymoon in Vegas was released 28 August (USA) and runs 96 minutes. Shooting took place from August - November 1991 in New York, California, Las Vegas, Nevada and in Hawaii. The film opened #1 to a 7.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another weekend at #1 and then one more in the top 5 (#2), grossing 35.2 mil. $. The international gross numbers are regrettably not public. With a projected international gross of 19 mil. $, the total gross of 54.2 mil. $ gives the film flop status. It was nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, translating to 2 notches over this one. Bergman returned with It Could Happen to You (1994). Caan returned in The Program (1993); Cage in Amos & Andrew (1993); and Parker in Hocus Pocus (1993). Honeymoon in Vegas is fresh at 66 % with a 6.10/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Honeymoon in Vegas? 

Othello (1995) - Parker's fascinating Shakespeare adaptation debut

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An intimate dramatic trio is promised on this dark and sensual poster for Oliver Parker's Othello

In renaissance Venice, a power struggle breaks out from jealousy from the mighty Iago towards the dark Othello - concerning a woman and other matters.

Othello is written and directed by debuting Oliver Parker (St. Trinian's (2007)), adapting the same-titled 1603-04 play by William Shakespeare (King John (1596)).

It is honestly difficult to comprehend the plot of Othello for this Shakespeare novice, due to the beautiful dialog, which is presumable kept from the play. But this luckily doesn't destroy the experience of watching it. Parker is obviously fully immersed in the play, which is presented cinematically here, not least thanks to the seething performances of Laurence Fishburne (Bobby Z (2007)) and Kenneth Branagh (Celebrity (1998)). The two fascinate here, even when the narrative connections get fuzzy.

 

Related post:

 

Oliver Parker: Johnny English Reborn/Johnny English Returns (2011) - Atkinson will make you laugh till your belly aches

 

Watch a 2-minute clip from the film here

 

Cost: 11 mil. $

Box office: In excess of 2.8 mil. $ (North America only)

= Uncertain but likely a big flop (projected return of 0.54 times its cost)

[Othello was released 15 December (North America) and runs 123 minutes. Shooting took place from June - August 1995 in Italy, including in Rome. The film opened #14 to a 29k $ first weekend in 2 theaters in North America, where it grossed 2.8 mil. $. The international gross numbers have regrettably not been made public. Projecting a final world gross of 6 mil. $, the film would rank as a big flop. Roger Ebert gave the film a 2/4 star review, translating to 2 notches under this one. Parker returned with An Ideal Husband (1999)). Fishburne returned in Fled (1996); Branagh in Hamlet (1996); and Irène Jacob (Rio Sex Comedy (2010)) in Victory (1996). Othello is fresh at 68 % with a 6.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Othello?

Absolute Power (1997) - Eastwood stumbles with low-caliber thriller

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 + Worst Poser of the Year

 

What looks like a seat belt (!) is wrapped around Clint Eastwood's giant head on this questionable poster for his own Absolute Power

An aging, sophisticated master jewel thief is in the middle of robbing a political bigwig's home, when he accidentally witnesses the US president's causing the death of a younger woman and later receiving help from his team in covering up the tragedy.

 

Absolute Power is written by William Goldman (All the President's Men (1976)), adapting the same-titled 1996 novel by David Baldacci (One Good Deed (2019)), and directed by director/co-producer/star, Californian master filmmaker Clint Eastwood (Play Misty for Me (1971)), whose 19th feature it is.

This crime thriller ranks among the weakest in Eastwood's prolific career. SPOILER The first several minutes pass with him standing in a closet, while Gene Hackman (Banning (1967)) as the president strikes and halfway rapes an innocent woman and then has her murdered. The violent scene combined with the 'impotent' hero (because he just watches the ordeal from the closet) is just not a nice opener.

Absolute Power does nothing to make the president character real to us, and he in fact seems like a pseudo-character in the dark universe that is conjured up. There is an impressive cast, but Absolute Power works at the lowest possible flame, (the kind of film you can watch very late at night with half an eye.) It is simplified and stupid to put it bluntly. The only cast member who esteems himself here is E.G. Marshall (Interiors (1978)), whose last movie this was, SPOILER as the president's likely murderer in the film's ending.

 

Related posts:

Clint Eastwood: The Mule (2018) - Drug-runner true story proves another fine fit for screen legend Eastwood 

Sully (2016) - Eastwood's miracle landing biopic is inert and overrated  2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
Top 10: The best biopic movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
American Sniper (2014) - Eastwood conveys an American man and myth in electric masterpiece  
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2011 in films - according to Film Excess   
J. Edgar (2011) - Eastwood, Black and DiCaprio's great, intense biopic   

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
Gran Torino (2008) - Eastwood's actor persona comes full circle in absolute smash (co-producer/director/starring actor)
The Changeling (2008) or, The Christine Collins Story  

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 
2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]    
2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
Letters from Iwo Jima/硫黄島からの手紙 [Öjima Kara no Tegami] (2006) - The Japanese side of Eastwood's remarkable WWII two-parter   
Flags of Our Fathers (2006) - Eastwood's Iwo Jima portrayal is captivating and profoundly moving 

Blood Work (2002) - Eastwood churns out uninspired thriller adaptation (producer/director/starring actor)

1997 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

The Dead Pool (1988) - The highly entertaining last Dirty Harry movie (starring actor)
City Heat (1984) - Eastwood and Reynolds wrestle dispassionately in Benjamin's messy period affair (co-starring actor)
Tightrope (1984) - An undervalued Clint Eastwood sex killer thriller (starring actor)
Any Which Way You Can (1980) or, More Monkey Business! (starring actor)
Escape from Alcatraz (1979) - Siegel, Tuggle and Eastwood's phenomenal prison escape thriller (starring actor)
Every Which Way but Loose (1978) or, Honky Tonk Monkey Business! (starring actor)

The Gauntlet (1977) - Locke/Eastwood cast sparks in corny shoot-em-up (director/starring actor)
The Enforcer (1976) - Eastwood teaches revolutionaries a lesson in third, less punchy Dirty Harry (starring actor)
The Eiger Sanction (1975) - Eastwood's mountain climbing dud (director/star)

High Plains Drifter (1973) - Eastwood cleans up red town in great western (director/star)
The Beguiled (1971) - Intense, erotic Civil War kammerspiel thriller (starring actor)  
Dirty Harry (1971) - Eastwood's great, signature renegade cop character comes to life (starring actor)
Coogan's Bluff (1968) or, Dopes and Hippies, Beat It! (starring actor)  
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) - Leone ends his poncho trilogy with certified classic (starring actor)
For a Few Dollars More/Per Qualche Dollaro in Più (1965) or, Return of the Poncho Killer (co-starring actor)
A Fistful of Dollars (1964) or, Killer in a Poncho (starring actor)

 

Eastwood talks about the film for 11 minutes in this video

 

Cost: 50 mil. $

Box office: 50 mil. $ - North America only

= Uncertain but likely a big flop (projected return of 1.4 times its cost)

[Absolute Power premiered 4 February (Westwood, Hollywood) and runs 121 minutes. Baldacci reportedly sold the worldwide book and movie right for his novel for 5 mil. $. Ed Harris (Milk Money (1994)) was paid 2.5 mil. $ for his performance. Shooting took place from June - August 1996 in Los Angeles, California, Washington, D.C, and in Maryland, including in Baltimore. It opened #2, behind a 1997 'special edition' re-release of Star Wars (1977), to a 14.6 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 2 weekends in the top 5 (#3-#5-4X-#3-#4), grossing 50 mil. $. Without the international gross numbers a theatrical status regrettably cannot be determined. A projected much-smaller-than-needed international gross, leading to a final gross of 70 mil. $ would earn Absolute Power the rank of 'big flop'. Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, translating to 3 notches over this one. Eastwood returned with Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997), and as an actor in True Crime (1999). Harris returned in The Truman Show (1998); Hackman in Twilight (1998). Absolute Power is rotten at 56 % with a 5.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Absolute Power?

The Green Mile (1999) - Duncan and great ensemble raise Darabont's second prison epic

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+ Best Ensemble of the Year: Tom Hanks, Michael Clarke Duncan, Sam Rockwell, David Morse, Michael Jeter, Bonnie Hunt, James Cromwell, Patricia Clarkson, Harry Dean Stanton, Doug Hutchison + Best Epic Movie of the Year + Best Prison Movie of the Year + Best Religious Movie of the Year + Best Shooting Star Actor of the Year: Michael Clarke Duncan

 

Tom Hanks painted neatly up in retro 1930s/1940s poster style defines this fine poster for Frank Darabont's The Green Mile

On a Louisiana death row in the middle of the 1930s the deeply unusual, black giant double-murder convict John Coffey arrives, and his special abilities are to turn life as they know it upside down for the staff and other prisoners there.

The Green Mile is written and directed by French-born American master filmmaker Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption (1994)), whose 2nd feature it is. It is an adaptation of Stephen King's (The Talisman (1984)) same-titled 1996 novel.

The story is King in his metaphysical corner, which I sometimes have a hard time with; The Stand (1994, miniseries) being the worst proponent for the adaptations of these writings. The Green Mile arrives as something like a new gospel, a disguised Christ story, which is specifically American in the relation between the predominantly white society and its black minority, and in its relation to the black male specifically.

It is a forceful and enormously handsomely produced film with strong photography (by David Tattersall (The Matador (2005))) and performances; particularly Michael Clarke Duncan (Kung Fu Panda (2008)) is incredible and magical as Coffey. Tom Hanks (The Post (2017)) is good but stands in Duncan's colossal shade here, as well as formidable supporting performances from Sam Rockwell (Woman Walks Ahead (2017)) especially, but also from David Morse (16 Blocks (2006)), Michael Jeter (Dream On (2006, TV-series)), Bonnie Hunt (Stolen Summer (2002)), James Cromwell (The Queen (2006)), Patricia Clarkson (Elegy (2008)), Harry Dean Stanton (Sand (2000)) and Doug Hutchison (Moola (2007)).

The Green Mile is a long film with an incredible twist to it, which I also have some difficulty stomaching. Also here it is a bit much for my taste. It seems an attempt to match and exceed Darabont's preceding, masterful King adaptation, also prison-set Shawshank Redemption, and for all the wonderful elements in The Green Mile, this probably foolhardy ambition fails.

 

Related posts:

 

Frank Darabont: The Majestic (2001) - Soaring sentiments and production values in Darabont's under-appreciated Movie

1999 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess  

 

Watch  a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 60 mil. $

Box office: 286.8 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 4.78 times its cost)

[The Green Mile premiered 6 December (California) and runs 189 minutes. Darabont reportedly wrote the script in less than 8 weeks. Hanks was paid 20 mil. $ for his performance, one third of its over-all coast. Shooting took place from July - December 1998 in Tennessee, North Carolina and California, including Los Angeles. The film opened #2, behind Toy Story 2, to a 18 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 8 weekends in the top 5 (#2-#5-#4-#2-#5-#5-#5-#5) and grossed 136.8 mil. $ (47.7 % of the total gross). It was nominated for 4 Oscars, winning none: It lost Best Picture to American Beauty, Supporting Actor (Duncan) to Michael Caine in The Cider House Rules, Editing to The Matrix and Adapted Screenplay to John Irving for The Cider House Rules. It was also nominated for a Golden Globe, among many other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, translating to a notch over this one. IMDb's users have rated the film in at #27 on the site's Top 250, sitting between Saving Private Ryan (1998) and Spirited Away (2001). It additionally made in excess of 17.4 mil. $ in domestic home video rentals alone. Darabont returned with The Majestic (2001). Hanks returned in Cast Away (2000); Duncan in The Whole Nine Yards (2000). The Green Mile is certified fresh at 78 % with a 6.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Green Mile?

The Majestic (2001) - Soaring sentiments and production values in Darabont's under-appreciated Movie

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A glorious, cinematic kiss stretched across the night sky over an amazing-looking cinema on the poster for Frank Darabont's The Majestic

An upcoming Hollywood screenwriter, who is targeted by the House Un-American Activities Committee of the 1950s, has an accident in which he hits his head. He wakes up in an ideal small town community, Lawson, California, where he is wrongfully recognized as a lost World War II soldier.

The Majestic is written by Michael Sloane (Hollywood Boulevard II (1990)) and directed by French-American master filmmaker Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption (1994)), whose 3rd feature it is.
Jim Carrey (Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011)) and Laurie Holden (Dead Man's Gun (1997, TV-series)) are fine in Darabont's exceptionally handsome production, a film that feels like it could just as well have been made in 1960 with James Stewart in the lead. Bob Balaban (No Reservations (2007)) makes a good villain; David Ogden Stiers (Lilo & Stitch (2002)) makes a good doctor, - but it is Martin Landau (Delta Fever (1987)) as Carrey's 'father', who stands out and activates our tear canals more than once in an awards-worthy turn.
The fine story here, which keeps one guessing, is told in a pace that is too leisurely at times. But it is a joy to watch a film done with style, panache and craftsmanship, obviously made without the (in major studio fare especially) normalized consideration that major sequences be accomplished during post production. It can be seen as well as felt.
Landau's speech in favor of the title-named theater over smaller screens is eminent. The Majestic is a Movie (capital letter very much intended) that develops in such a way that one almost can't imagine that it will end 'well'. - And yet it does, SPOILER with a court room scene that just about rewrites J. Edgar Hoover's communist witch-hunt, or at least strikes it back by Hollywood, in the guise of Carrey, counterfactually. Regrettably the ending still gets botched a bit, as the filmmakers inhale even more wind into The Majestic's already ballooned construction by having Carrey return to an exaggerated, somewhat absurd salutation in Lawson.

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 72 mil. $
Box office: 37.3 mil. $
= Huge flop (returned 0.51 times its cost)
[The Majestic premiered 11 December (USA) and runs 152 minutes. Shooting took place in California, including Los Angeles, from March - June 2001. The film opened #8 to a 4.9 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it did not peak higher in subsequent weekends and grossed 27.8 mil. $ (74.5 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were, with some uncertainty, Japan with 5.3 mil. $ (14.2 %) and Spain with 444k $ (1.9 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, translating to a notch higher than this one. Darabont returned with Raines (2007, TV-series), The Shield (2007, TV-series) and theatrically with The Mist (2007). Carrey returned in Bruce Almighty (2003). The Majestic is rotten at 42 % with a 4.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Majestic?

Miss Congeniality (2000) - Caine, Bullock and Shatner shine in low-brow romp

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Star Sandra Bullock looks radiant on this poster for Donald Petrie's Miss Congeniality

FBI's agent 'Dirty Harriet' Grace Hart is tasked with infiltrating the Miss America pageant in order to avert an attack from the mysterious 'citizen' killer.

Miss Congeniality is written by Marc Lawrence (Noelle (2019)), Katie Ford (Little House on the Prairie (2005, miniseries)) and Cary Lucas (Pride & Joy (1995, TV-series)) and directed by Donald Petrie (Mystic Pizza (1988).
The high-concept idea that runs Miss Congeniality doesn't have much in terms of unpredictability or plausibility to its credit, and especially the FBI environment it conjures up seems grotesquely improbable. The sincerity of the film's morale and the inevitable kisses are also very slight.
But if you can accept Miss Congeniality with the appropriate low-brow expectations, it offers something besides these deficiencies:
Sandra Bullock (Forces of Nature (1999)) is as endearing as ever, (although some of her comedy misses the mark); Benjamin Bratt (Snitch (2013)) is handsome and fine as her romantic interest; William Shatner (Barbary Coast (1975-76)) is a bowl of laughs as the pageant show's host, a ham part that's not far from Shatner's own celebrity persona. And then there's also Michael Caine (The Wrong Box (1966)), who is phenomenal and hilarious; his scenes are generally the film's best. Miss Congeniality esteems itself as gay-friendly, satirical, decent popcorn-munching fun fare.

Watch a short trailer for the film here

Cost: 45 mil. $
Box office: 212.7 mil. $
= Big hit (returned 4.72 times its cost)
[Miss Congeniality premiered 14 December (Hollywood) and runs 110 minutes. Shooting took place from May - July 2000 in Texas, including San Antonio and Austin, and in New York City. The film opened #5, behind fellow new release Cast Away, holdover hits What Women Want and How the Grinch Stole Christmas and fellow new release The Family Man, to a 10 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it peaked at #3 and spent a total of 6 consecutive weekends in the top 5, grossing 106.8 mil. $ (50.2 % of the total gross). The film's Box Office Mojo international sheet is regrettably incomplete, but its 2nd and 3rd biggest markets appear to have been Germany with 17 mil. $ (8 %) and the UK with 14.1 mil. $ (6.6 %). The film was nominated for 2 Golden Globes, among a few other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 2/4 star review, translating to a notch harder than this one. Bullock returned as star in sequel Miss Congeniality 2: Armed & Fabulous (2005) with John Pasquin directing. Petrie returned with How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003)). Bullock returned first in Murder by Numbers (2002). Miss Congeniality is rotten at 42 % with a 5.12/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Miss Congeniality?