After getting Gracie to agree to the assignment, the next step is to turn her into a believable beauty pageant contestant. Sandra Bullock excels at this type of comedy, and as the producer of the film, she shows that she knows how to pick material that plays up her strong points. Michael Caine is an absolute delight in his role, as are William Shatner and Candice Bergen, all of whom generate laughs. Colors are so wonderfully vivid that many of the hues threaten to leap off the screen. Additionally, the flesh tones appear wonderfully healthy.
Blacks are flawless, plus the image boasts superb shadow detail and tremendous depth.
Digital compression artifacts remain completely out of sight during the entire presentation. The Dolby Digital 5.1 channels soundtrack seems a bit more playful than one normal gets from this type of film. There is a stronger sense of directional sound effects in both the forward and rear soundstages, although the mix doesn't get carried away like an action or science fiction movie. Still, there is more activity than I anticipated in the surround channels and some of it is mildly aggressive. Dialogue reproduction is completely natural and fully intelligible.