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BY A.S. HAMRAH
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This belated sequel to the 2000 Sandra Bullock empowerment comedy wears the latent homo-eroticism of the action/buddy movie on its flirty sleeve. Bullock’s FBI agent, Gracie Hart, gets a high-maintenance makeover along with a new partner, a tough black chick. Regina King’s character is named Sam Fuller (a bizarre choice that won't please cinephiles), and when butch Sam meets girly Gracie, sparks fly. Late in the film, one of their bosses (Treat Williams) tells Gracie and Sam that "you two are going down together." After all the fighting, begging, reconciling, and same-bed heart-to-hearts the two women have shared, only the densest member of the audience won’t think, "No kidding." Miss Congeniality 2 flaunts non-buried subtext in a Tim Allen–level setting and represents the continuing Wal-Martification of the demographic formerly known as deviant. When the movie reaches a climax at a Las Vegas drag show, a realization dawns: as far as Hollywood is concerned, not only do straight women make the best cops, they also make the best gay men. The whole thing is like Die bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant turned into a ride at Disneyland. Fun, sure. But weird. At the Apple Valley, Entertainment, Flagship, Holiday, Providence Place 16, Showcase, and Tri-Boro cinemas. (115m)
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