MISS CONGENIALITY 2: ARMED AND FABULOUS
PG-13, 107 mins.

Sandra Bullock somehow remains likable despite her mostly flat filmography. But it seems she has no real ambition to rise above the mediocre comedies she so often appears in. “Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous” is another formulaic picture lacking any wit or charisma.

Taking place three weeks after the end of the first film, then fast-forwarding to 10 months after that, “Miss Congeniality 2” finds FBI agent Gracie Hart (Ms. Bullock) unable to keep a low profile due to the fame and national attention she received thanks to participating in the Miss United States pageant in the original film. Rather than let a good agent go, the bureau decides to pretty Gracie up and make her the “Face of the FBI” (Robert Mueller in a swimsuit, one imagines, is less appealing).

While on a publicity tour, Gracie learns that her best friend, Cheryl (Heather Burns), and aforementioned pageant emcee, Stan Fields (William Shatner), have been kidnapped. They will be killed if a ransom of $5 million is not paid within a week. Gracie jumps into action.

This is decidedly weak material. Guys whose girlfriends drag them to this will find little amusement; the women to whom the film is marketed are likely to be bored as well. Ms. Bullock (who produced as well) can be charming, but in a film as bad as this, that’s not reason enough to watch.

NINA’S TRAGEDIES
unrated, 110 mins.

In the Israeli film “Nina’s Tragedies” a young boy spends his time spying on people while lusting after his attractive aunt. The only way this child could be creepier is if he carried around a copy of “Catcher in the Rye.” The boy, Nadav (Aviv Elkabeth), is also the narrator of the story, told in flashback as he awaits the funeral for his father to begin.

When Nadav’s parents get divorced, he goes to live with his Aunt Nina (Ayelet Zurer) and her husband Haimon (Yoram Hattab). He is happy with this arrangement, as he is in love with Nina, but when Haimon is killed in a terrorist attack Nina becomes withdrawn and begins to neglect the boy. Eventually, she becomes involved with another man, begins to have visions of Haimon, and ends the relationship.

The final moments of this melancholy comedy will provoke genuine feeling in viewers. The majority of the film, though, is quirky yet bland.