No SPOILER ALERT necessary, but warning: despite the first few paragraphs this is a positive review. Hollywood studio comedies are all predictable formula exercises that depend solely on the execution.
THE HEAT is your standard buddy-cop trope with a jumbled plot that’s only there to serve the gags and the few obligatory moments of heart to show that these opposites really do love and respect each other. And of course there’s a scene of the two stars dancing.
No studio comedy could be released without that. It’s R-rated because that’s what sells. The language is raunchy because that’s what sells. Melissa McCarthy is in the part Bette Midler used to play when she sold. And Sandra Bullock plays the part Sandra Bullock used to play. One’s crazy and outrageous and the other is the button-down foil. LETHAL WEAPON before one of its stars proved to really BE crazy.
So if you know that going in, and don’t mind exploding f-bombs everywhere – if you don’t go in with expectations any higher than laughs from Sandra Bullock blowing a peanut shell out of her nose, you will have a rollicking good time with THE HEAT. I did. (See? I told it was positive.) Why? Melissa McCarthy is a riot. This is the comic role she was born to play (and undoubtedly will play again in eight more films even though it will get tiresome by the fifth). She’s the queen of bad ass. Melissa hits every joke out of the park and when you see what she can do with decent material it’s really apparent that her talents are being wasted on MIKE & MOLLY. Credit Katie Dippold with writing hilarious lines for her to say.
The jokes come fast and furious and got many good laughs from the audience I saw the movie with – and that was at a DGA screening, so we’re not talking your typical high school target crowd. And remember, there’s extra pressure on the script because… well, you’ve already seen this movie ten times. Major kudos also go to Sandy Bullock. This was clearly Melissa’s movie, she had the much showier part, and Ms. Bullock does have an Academy Award, but she proved once again to be a great sport and more importantly, a deft comedienne. She has a nice light touch, knows her way around a joke, plays real, can take a pratfall, and has the knack for not taking herself too seriously while still playing a serious character. Other than her taste in husbands, Sandra Bullock has great instincts.
Between THE HEAT and BRIDESMAIDS, Paul Feig is proving himself to be an A-list studio comedy director. Please don’t blow it by thinking you’re the next Judd Apatow and do a four-hour comedy starring your family members. So to sum up – low expectations, DEADWOOD-quantity of fucks, a thousand cliches, but if you like Melissa McCarthy unleashed and Sandra Bullock in a bra, THE HEAT is a fun romp. But be forewarned -- if that's not your cup of tea you may just HATE this film.
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