FRIDAY 06 NOVEMBER 2015 MISS CONGENIALITY (2000) he late weren’t particularly kind to Sandra Bullock’s filmography. Although many of her movies made money, critical praise proved increasingly hard to come by as she Twavered between big-budget misfires like Speed 2 and well-meaning failures like 28 Days, and when she signed on for Miss Congeniality to play an FBI agent who infiltrates a beau- ty pageant in order to bust up a bomb threat, it seemed like she might have finally reached her nadir. But in the capable hands of Mystic Pizza director Donald Petrie - and bolstered by a gen- erally impeccable cast that also included and - the final product proved just the sort of well-assembled, cheerfully undemanding fare that audiences were look- ing for over the Christmas holiday in 2000.

A TIME TO KILL (1996) ullock was given top billing in this 1996 adaptation of John Grisham’s first nov- el, but that was just a ruse; the film’s true star, future noted bongo enthusiast BMatthew McConaughey, was a virtual unknown when he was cast, and although a mountain of buzz piled up around him before A Time to Kill was released, it’s easy to understand why Warner Bros. chose to emphasize Bullock and Samuel L. Jackson in the movie’s marketing materials. And okay, so Sandra Bullock isn’t really the star of A Time to Kill, but she is rather integral to the plot; she does, after all, play the young, passionate law student who strong-arms McConaughey’s character into letting her help him represent Samuel L. Jackson against the double murder charges he faces after gunning down his daughter’s rapists in the county courthouse - and it’s her character’s predilection for wearing relatively immodest garb that gives Kill a little distaff eye candy to supplement McConaughey’s baby blues and toned pecs.

GRAVITY (2013) t takes incredible amounts of luck, hard work, and talent to land a starring role in a movie. To score a gig where you’re pretty much alone on screen for the duration of the Ifilm? That’s really special. Bullock entered that elite club with Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity, playing an astronaut who finds herself horrifyingly marooned in space after a series of mishaps sends her mission spiraling further and further out of control - a role that allowed her the opportunity to deliver a masterclass in solo dramatic acting while serving as the audience’s constant companion in a film that runs the gamut from big-budget visual thrills to quiet moments of one-on-one (or one-on-none) drama. A critical and commercial smash, Gravity earned almost universal acclaim while racking up more than $700 million at the box office - and an impressive 10 Oscar nominations (including Best Actress for Bullock). (www.rottentomatoes.com)

THE BLIND SIDE (2009) ake movies long enough, and you’ll get your shot at starring in an inspirational sports drama; with 2009’s The Blind Side, Bullock took that ball and ran with it all the way to Mmore than $300 million at the box office - as well as an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and a SAG Award. Inspired by Michael Lewis’ nonfiction book about the evolution of the offensive left tackle position - particularly the portion focusing on future NFL player ’s poverty- stricken upbringing and subsequent adoption by a married couple who helped him along the way - The Blind Side overcame generally lukewarm reviews while snowballing into a relatively slow-building word-of-mouth success that shattered records for football films, sports dramas, and movies toplined by a sole female star, definitively opening a new chapter in Bullock’s career along the way.