REVIEW: The Heat

MOVIE
The Heat

CAST
Sandra Bullock,
Melissa McCarthy

RATING
R

RELEASE
June 28, 2013

DIRECTOR
Paul Feig

STUDIO
20th Century Fox

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 57 minutes






STARS
***1/2






REVIEW:

The formula of the up-tight cop teaming up with the street-smart cop might show up in many movies, but for the most part, it never gets old.  Last year we were given "21 Jump Street," and in 2010 "The Other Guys" came out.  The buddy-cop formula might not be original, but if done right, it can be flat out hilarious.  "The Heat," luckily, is one of those flat-out hilarious buddy-cop films.  Thanks to the chemistry between its two leads and the improv Melissa McCarthy is able to spew out of her mouth a mile a minute, "The Heat" is one of the funniest comedies of the summer thus far.  It doesn't exactly have the heart between its two leads like "21 Jump Street" did, but it did manage to have me on the floor laughing, as well as have a couple of shocking moments in there that are either hysterical or just shocking in terms of "I didn't see that coming."

FBI Agent Sarah Ashburn is the best of the best, being able to crack cases faster and better than a dog's nose when looking for drugs.  Unfortunately, her arrogance gets in the way of her work as none of her co-workers like her.  That is one of the big reasons why her captain transfers her from New York to Boston in order to take down some of the local drug lords.  Unfortunately for Ashburn, she has no idea what she got herself in to, as she encounters Shannon Mullins, a loud, foul-mouthed person who happens to be one of Boston's best cops.  These two unlikely partners are forced to join up in order to take down a powerful drug lord under the name of Simon Larkin, and hopefully become friends along the way.

This film wouldn't even work if it wasn't for the chemistry between Bullock and McCarthy.  Sure McCarthy has the best jokes in the movie and a really good sense of humor overall, but she needed Bullock's straight performance to bounce off of.  If it wasn't for that, McCarthy would have derailed and just had the comedy feel old and irritating.  Bullock's straight performance overall is hilarious, especially in the final act of the film when she breaks her "PG" persona and starts spewing F-bombs like there's no tomorrow.  McCarthy does just that throughout the entire movie, and almost every single line that came out of her mouth just resulted in huge belly laughs from this critic here.  The rest of the cast is good overall, but there's nobody really else to talk about other than Bullock and McCarthy.

What else is there to say about this movie other than the fact that it's a laugh-a-minute riot that gets some of the biggest audience howls of the year.  "The Heat" isn't a perfect comedy, mainly because it felt a little too formulaic at time, but it is something I will check out again on DVD.  Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy are hilarious in this movie and have great chemistry together.  Paul Feig, the director of "Bridesmaids," definitely has a sense of when to make violence in a movie hilarious, including one particular scene that takes place in a Denny's.  I can tell that screenwriter Katie Dippold, who is best known for writing the TV show "Parks and Recreation," had a fun time writing this, as all of the jokes and the plot twists (there are few, don't worry) hit you like a bullet to the chest, but they all work.  "The Heat," overall, is silly, outrageous, and crude; But damn, it's also a hilarious movie.  Aside from "This is The End," this is the comedy of the summer for ya.  If you don't like Melissa McCarthy doing what she does best, though, which is swearing and making jokes about everyone around her, then stay as far away from this movie as possible.  You might not be able to handle how hot this film gets with her sense of humor.




PREVIEWS YOU MAY SEE:

Anchorman: The Legend Continues

Delivery Man

About Time

The To Do List

Grown Ups 2

Runner, Runner

The Wolverine