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Programme Information

The Miss United States Pageant is the hallowed and revered home of American beauty and has been for the last fifty years. However it has recently received a threat from one of the country's most infamous criminals, the "Citizen." The F.B.I. has been tracking this psychopath forever as his rampage of bombings, shootings and arson terrorizes the nation. This may finally be their chance to nab him.

Now the plan is to put one of their agents agents into the pageant, undercover, as a contestant. Fix the judging so she's on stage right to the end, in the "top five." Equip her with a state of the art surveillance equipment. However, finding that agent isn't as simple as they once thought.

A computer search of all available female agents turns out a decidedly unphotogenic group, except for Special Agent Gracie Hart (Sandra Bullock). She looks terrific on the computer in a bathing suit; she might even fool everyone in an evening gown, especially if she puts a brush to her hair. But Gracie doesn't own a brush. Or a dress. Or high heels. Or as her fellow agent and head of the undercover operation, Eric Matthews (Benjamin Bratt) puts it, she's a "car wreck." And Gracie has no desire to join the ranks of what she refers to as a "bunch of bikini stuffers who only want world peace."

This is why the Bureau hires beauty pageant consultant Victor Melling (Michael Caine) to transform Gracie - or as he re-names her, "Dirty Harriet" into Gracie Lou Freebush - the perfect pageant contestant. Henry Higgins had a day at the beach compared to what Vic is up against in beautifying a woman "without a detectable smidgen of estrogen." But the fate of the pageant hangs in the balance, and considering that Gracie's refusal to follow orders has already placed her job in jeopardy, this may be her last chance to make it in her beloved Bureau.

Keywords:

Comedy, Romance, Thriller, Serial Killer, Movie, Film, Movies, Films

Additional Information:

(2000) (USA / Australia) (3 Star)

Cast:

Sandra Bullock	.... Gracie Hart/Gracie Lou Freebush
Michael Caine	.... Victor Melling
Benjamin Bratt	.... Eric Matthews
Candice Bergen	.... Kathy Morningside
Ernie Hudson	.... FBI Asst. Director Harry McDonald
William Shatner	.... Stan Fields

Supporting Cast:

John DiResta	.... Agent Clonsky
Heather Burns	.... Cheryl Frasier
Melissa de Sousa	.... Karen Krantz New York
Steve Monroe	.... Frank Tobin
Deirdre Quinn	.... Mary Jo Wright Texas
Wendy Raquel Robinson	.... Leslie Davis California
Asia de Marcos	.... Alana Krewson Hawaii
Ken Thomas	.... Agent Harris
Gabriel Folse	.... Agent Jerry Grant

Directors:

Donald Petrie

Writers:

Marc Lawrence
Katie Ford

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