An uptight FBI Agent is paired with a foul-mouthed Boston cop to take down a ruthless drug lord.
THE HEAT is laugh out load funny with Mullins (Melissa McCarthy) cracking almost every swear word throughout the film. Her jokes are original, some would say she had gone ‘too far’, but only McCarthy would get away with such an act. Ashburn (Sandra Bullock) is a pushy and poised workaholic and compliments Mullins eccentric behaviour. The pair go through the ups and downs of a friendship that just seems so out of place, you end up loving every second.
Director Paul Fieg certainly made the right decision to go all out with the jokes, profanity and content as it definitely did the film favours. Without McCarthy’s quick and talented ad-libbing the screenplay may be in turnaround.
The film is somewhat cliched having two different people forced to work together and the whole ‘buddy cop’ theme. However, that is almost the only negative I saw. We are taken on a journey, a hilarious journey that sees females rise to the top in a masculine favoured career. This is a feel good film for women as it definitely proves that they can fight crime and bring down the bad guy. Sure, there is some sexism within the film, but it is very minor and in no way emasculates males.
The serious undertones of the film are easily shaken off. The comedy overrides the drama and suspense, which may not be a good thing. The vulgarity that comes out of McCarthys mouth may upset some viewers or make you laugh at something as serious as playing Russian Roulette in an interrogation room with a suspects genitals. Having said that, it will only upset you if you are particularly sensitive to such language or if you are albino.
I’m not a great fan of ‘cop’ films that are all about explosions and blowing things up with people firing round after round of ammunition. While THE HEAT does have its explosions here and there, it isn’t all that over the top. It’s bearable and, I guess, somewhat realistic. It was a slight let down to have the characters resort to grenades and heavy firearms (I would’ve loved to see Bullock and McCarthy physically kick-butt). Although, this totally made the chicks looks bad-arse!
McCarthy had definitely pulled Bullocks comedy strings. Had Bullock been cast with another actress, she would have seemed out of place. Bullock does prove her diversity as she can sometimes ‘steal the scene’ by upstaging McCarthy.
The films target is the female demographic aged between 15 and 40 and it doesn’t even slightly dumb itself down to do so. While it is still no BRIDESMAIDS (Paul Fiegs previous film), THE HEAT is a fresh comedy that doesn’t try too hard. Fieg lets his actors act and captures a fine comedy.
THE HEAT is in cinemas now and is a film you can actually drag your partner along to. I rate it 7 out 10 stars. Definitely popcorn worthy. I’d buy it on DVD.
