The Heat

Year: 2013
Genre: Action comedy
Director: Paul Feig


Plot: An FBI agent and a Boston cop team up to take down a drug lord, if they don't kill each other first.


The gist: The idea of teaming up Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy in a comedy ought to be good, since they both excel at the genre. But as far as The Heat goes, it's a hit and miss affair.

Bullock plays Ashburn, an FBI agent that is not so different from the one she played in Miss Congeniality, as in difficult to work with and puts her male colleagues down constantly. She is forced to team up with McCarthy's Boston cop Mullins, and McCarthy is exactly what you'd expect from her: foul mouthed, rude and nasty.

The duo are obviously playing to their strengths, and to their credit, they have a chemistry that works on screen. However, the film only works half the time since the jokes aren't always funny. It also doesn't help that Paul Feig uses the same cliches we've seen before, like Mullins having an obnoxious family, Ashburn being the way she is because of her upbringing and suffers from loneliness etc.

Predictably enough, like most buddy cop films we've seen, the two eventually get along and work together, but you already knew that.


The good: Bullock and McCarthy work well with each other at least. The running joke about the albino agent was quite funny actually.

The bad: The jokes fall flat half the time, and it just uses too many recycled ideas we've seen before.


Verdict: It falls a bit below expectations. The Heat isn't breaking new ground nor is it one of the top films of its genre, but it's funny when it tries hard enough and is decent at best. (3/5)