Who Should Watch "The Heat"

The Heat - Movie Review

By the book FBI agent meets street smarts detective. Its a story that is all too familiar and has been done over and over again. This dynamic of polar opposites has been a facet of the cop genre in all of its different sub genres. The most prominent being located in the Buddy Cop genre which are mostly action comedies. This one is however a special case in that the two "buddy cops" are women.

Something that hasn't been seen before, in maybe a long time

I can't exactly recall when was the last time a buddy cop movie featured two women as the leading role. Whether it be a serious intense thriller, a silly action film, or a straight up comedy action film, I really don't recall any other movie featuring two women in the starring role of a buddy cop movie. I'm pretty sure that there have been some before, I'm just not aware of them. Some could argue that TNT's show Rizzoli and Isles could very well be a buddy cop genre, but that is a show not a movie. Perhaps there are some in the straight to DVD section. I should try looking into it, but the more I think about, if I can't recall anything for comparison then there probably wasn't that many anyway. And there definitely wasn't a pairing like this that I know of.

So is it worth it?

For the most part, yes it does. Was it amazing? Not in the slightest. So what makes it worth watching? The chemistry between Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy. I'm not going much into the plot progression because that is given away in the trailers or if you've seen too many buddy cop movies then you know what happens. But it is this pairing that really makes it interesting to watch. The pair works great together with the material they are given. However McCarthy outshines Bullock in every single scene the two of them share together. There wasn't really a standout moment for Bullock in this film. Pretty much McCarthy's Detective Mullins was a dominating force that grabs the attention away from everyone else, almost turning into a one woman show. Of course to say that the movie would've worked if the focus was entirely on her character, that would be false. Bullock's Agent Ashburn offers a balance to the reckless behavior that Detective Mullins puts out. While I say she balances the scale, it still is pretty one sided in terms of who is overpowering who.

The film portrays Agent Ashburn as the focus of the film with Detective Mullins being the supporting role. Despite that fact, due to the dominating nature of Detective Mullins, it seems as if Agent Ashburn is the supporting role with a lot of character while Detective Mullins is a leading role with a lot of mystery. The dynamic between the pair is interesting on screen. If this film had been split into two movies with Bullock in one and McCarthy in the other it would be two completely different films. It could almost be arguable that McCarthy's film would dominate over Bullock's. Which is why in here they work so well together, however when they are separate, Bullock's character doesn't really seem all too interesting. She has a great detective skill set, sure, but there was not enough charm or wit in the same manner that Benedict Cumberbatch displays in BBC's Sherlock. Her character by herself may have made an interesting flick, but paired with McCarthy's character is what makes it a fairly entertaining one.

Verdict - Cliched but funny

Critical score: 6.5/10 - Melissa McCarthy is truly a force to be reckoned with

Who Should Watch "The Heat?"

My mother is a huge Sandra Bullock fan, but like her and probably many of Bullock's other fans they'll be slightly disappointed by how much she gets outclassed by McCarthy. Lovers of the buddy cop movie genre will find nothing new in terms of plot, but if you're interested to see how it plays out with two female leads, there really isn't' much of a difference. Except for maybe swapping the standard sexy female love interest for a slightly geeky male love interest then maybe that's one other thing that'll be different. This movie is fun, but not for everyone. Sandra Bullock fans will enjoy it, but will be wishing that her character is more like the one she played in Miss Congeniality.