Movie Review: The Heat

(Poster: Mondo)

In a summer filled with robots, zombies and actors pondering the end of the world, leave it to the lone female comediennes left to bring The Heat to the season. Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy team up for one of the more hilarious films you'll see this year and it's rare sight as well because it's one of the few instances of women headlining the blockbuster summer season.

Bullock plays FBI Agent Sarah Ashburn who's uptight, meticulous and all about getting the job done. McCarthy is Dectective Shannon Mullins who's rowdy and boisterous methods somehow get the job done. But when these two women are forced to work together is when the sparks really fly.  Mullins' abrasiveness and Ashburn's nerdiness (she has a good work shirt) put together make a good team, only they aren't aware of it.  There's a scene of when they first track down a suspect and bug his phone in a nightclub that had me in tears of laughter as I watched Bullock and McCarthy navigate a dance floor.

Most of the laughs come from the physical comedy and both McCarthy and Bullock excel in it. For a so-called chick flick (only because two women are in the lead), this is actually a male film in disguise with Bullock and McCarthy blowing up, stabbing, shooting and taking care of business in Boston.  The reason why their characters are forced to work together to take down a drug lord seems unfocused and the time lapses in the film never made any sense to me.  Did they take down all those dealers in a day or had a week passed by?

But who cares so long as the action and the laughs keep on coming.  Bullock proves she's still got it, she plays Ashburn's need to be perfect (down to the side pin in her hair) just right and you can see through McCarthy's foul-mouthed threats, that deep down she really cares. It's not easy being the only female in a job where the men don't often agree with you and you're mostly considered a loner or an outsider and they bring out their characters insecurities, both professional and personal, nicely.   

McCarthy delivered all her lines as such zingers, I'd sure like to see that sequel where she's teams up with Robert Downey Jr's Iron Man to fight crime on a global level. So if you're looking for a respite from all the male testosterone films this summer, look no further for the laughs and head over to The Heat.  

Directed by Paul Feig; Written by Katie Dippold; Cinematography by Robert D. Yeoman; Editing by Jay Deuby and Brent White; Music by Michael Andrews

Additional cast: Damian Bechir, Marlon Wayans, Michael Rappaport

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