The Heat

On paper "The Heat" is just another in the long line of generic buddy cop comedies with the asterisk this time of having two females in the lead roles. The list of "buddy cop" movies is long and except for a few exceptions (Lethal Weapon, Tango and Cash, Turner and Hooch) it is a mostly generic, unoriginal genre. Thanks to fantastic chemistry between stars Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy, "The Heat is funnier then it has any business being.

"The Heat" starts out fairly predictable and for a moment it seemed like it would just be a rehash of Bullock's film "Miss Congeniality". Bullock plays an uptight, yet efficient FBI officer who is in need of a serious makeover, both professionally and personally. It's when Bullock is assigned to a drug smuggling case in Boston where she teams up with a local officer played by McCarthy. Bullock can play the ugly duckling role almost too comfortably and once "The Heat" gets going its nice to see her step out of her wheelhouse and genuinely looks like she's having fun dropping F-bombs and shooting people.

For me McCarthy is the real stand out here. After the triumph that was "Bridesmaids" McCarthy was deemed Hollywood's next big comedy superstar, and deservedly so. Though after this year's absolutely dreadful "Identity Thief" I thought McCarthy may have gotten too big too fast and was on a course to follow Jack Black as a huge star who suddenly just collapses onto itself. She plays tough as nails "Bahstahn" cop Shannon Mullins here and if you are a fan of the cop genre as I am the stuff she does with your stereotypical cop film details is absolutely dead on. If this was a remake of "Point Break" Bullock would be Johnny Utah and McCarthy would be a cross between Patrick Swayze and Gary Busey's characters.


As with most comedies, the plot is really not important here though the screenwriter Katie Dippold does make the crime at hand somewhat interesting and I was kind of thrown off by the semi surprise twist towards the end. The movie is also filled with a lot of great bit players who make the most of their screen time including former "New Kids on the Block" member Joey Mcintyre and Thomas F. Wilson known most notably as "Biff" from the "Back to the Future" franchise.

For a mainstream comedy "The Heat" hits on pretty much every level. I appreciated the physical comedic talents of the two main leads showed as well as their performances with the dialogue. If "This is the End" seems a little to left of center for you then I would fully endorse seeing "The Heat" for some good hearty laughs.