Michael Caine: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked

By Joe Pring /

1. Victor Melling - Miss Congeniality (2000)

As we all know by now, financial success doesn't automatically make a film good. Miss Congeniality may have been a hit with audiences across the world, but the film failed to draw in praise from critics. Detailing the transition from tomboyish cop to beauty pageant superstar, Sandra Bullock plays the title character Gracie Hart. Caine plays Victor Melling, the eccentric pageant coach that reluctantly teaches Bullock the ins and outs of the beauty pageant world. The role was a break away from the norm for Caine, but the film was hampered by a predictable and generic plot akin to that of an American sitcom, doing nothing to extend the actor's extensive back catalogue of cinematic classics. We're all for a more unreserved Caine in the same ilk as Children Of Men, but Miss Congeniality completely missed the mark for one of Britain's favourite stars.