The Heat

I have heard a lot of good things about this film. I don't think people thought it was the greatest movie ever made, but looking back at a lot of the movies that I've watched in the past few months, I'm realizing that I'm saying that a lot. A lot of the movie I review are not the greatest movies ever but they're still a fun time. The Heat is one of those movies.

If luck would have it, The Heat actually came on TV the same day that I had watched Tammy. And I will tell you the truth, I considered turning it off. I thought to myself that I didn't want anymore of Melissa McCarthy and I was ready to turn it off.

Luckily, McCarthy is not the first thing you see in this movie, the first person you see is Sandra Bullock. And that saved the movie for me from the start.

The Heat is your pretty standard, run of the mill buddy cop comedy. The difference, you've got Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock. Two women as cops, the cycle has been completed, I guess we have now done everything.

Bullock plays Sarah Ashburn. Ashburn is the straight laced FBI agent who does everything by the books and is very good at what she does. Of course because she does everything correctly, she gets on the nerves of the people she works with because she's a little bit too perfect.

On the other hand, of course, you have her opposite in Shannon Mullins (played by Melissa McCarthy), a detective with the Boston Police Department. Where Ashburn is tall, Mullins is short. Where Ashburn is skinny and well kept, Mullins is fat and kinda shaggy. Where Ashburn plays by the rules, Mullins takes the law into her own hands. So enters the buddy comedy.

The basic storyline is your generic buddy cop story of taking down the mobster. There's betrayal, there's tension between the two leads, and of course there's a few laughs.

And the truth is, there are a few laughs in this movie. These two oddly enough work very well together. I liked the way these two were polar opposites and played off one another.

Was it generic? Yeah... pretty much. But if its done well, it can be done.

Now, does the plot make a lot of sense, well not really. If a case like this came up and Bullock's character wanted jurisdiction, she probably would get it and tell Mullins to go piss off. That however does make for a great buddy cop comedy and therefore must be forgotten in order for this movie to work.

And for the most part, the movie does work. Yes, it is your pretty generic buddy cop storyline of them investigating the bad guys, but it really does bank on Bullock and McCarthy working well together and that's a horse worth betting on.

And this is an example of a role given to Melissa McCarthy that really does play into the type casting that she's usually put into, but it works really well.

Mullins is not a loser who needs to prove herself like she was in Tammy, she's just a badass who doesn't give a shit about what you say about her. Yeah there's the thick skin element to it. Yeah there are some heart felt moments, especially when her family gets involved. But for the most part, it was done A LOT better than it was done in Tammy.

I know what you're saying, this movie and Tammy have nothing alike and the direction was different in Tammy. All I will say is, they are the same character. This version of Melissa McCarthy works, Tammy version does not.

Sandra Bullock. I mean, she's still hot as hell. That's not nearly the only thing she has going for her in this movie, but its worth mentioning because the woman is 50 years old and she looks like she's barely in her thirties. I don't know how she does it but she is like a fine wine, she only gets better with age.

But the other, more important things worth mentioning are her juxtaposition to McCarthy. I love it when actors and actresses who are usually known for dramatic roles or romantic comedy roles come over to a genre that is a little bit different than what they've usually done, and this movie is definitely different than anything I've seen Bullock in. I love it.

The other cast in this movie is pretty good. Dan Bakkedahl from Legit plays an albino that gives off some good laughs. Taran Killam is in this movie and I enjoy most of what he's done.

I could say a few other things about this movie but the truth is, they're all pretty small up against the true spectacle of this movie and that's Bullock and McCarthy. They're just a good team.

I don't think they're the best buddy cop team up that's ever happened, but they follow doctrine (if there is one for buddy cop movies), and they are entertaining. This movie definitely gave me a little bit of hope for Melissa McCarthy's career, hope that was incredibly lacking after watching Tammy. The movie had very much of a feel of 21 or 22 Jump Street. Obviously not to the level that I would have liked, but again, if you can work the formula without it seeming stale, why not do it?

But those are my thoughts on The Heat. What did you think? Comment and Discuss below! You can also follow me on Twitter @cmhaugen24 and get updates on future movie news and reviews. You can also send me your thoughts on The Heat there and give me requests for future reviews.

I'll leave you with this. This is kind of random, but apparently if there was a zombie apocalypse, Channing Tatum would run to Sandra Bullock's house... fun fact. Enjoy!