[Movie Review] The Heat (2013)

Posted on June 11, 2013 by thegrandshuckett in Movie Reviews // 0 Comments

Plot Summary: Uptight FBI special agent Sarah Ashburn is paired with testy Boston cop Shannon Mullins in order to take down a ruthless drug lord. The hitch: neither woman has ever had a partner -- or a friend for that matter.

Director: Paul Feig

Writer: Katie Dippold

Runtime: 117 mins

Main Cast:

Melissa McCarthy as Det. Shannon Mullins
Sandra Bullock as Special Agent Sarah Ashburn
Marlon Wayans as Levy
Michael Rapaport as Jason Mullins

Review: by Anthony and Lee

Going into this, we did not expect much. It looked like a typical buddy cop comedy but poorly executed. I, Lee, will see almost anything with Sandra Bullock in it, however, so we gave it a shot.

What We Liked:

Sandra Bullock played the perfect uptight, awkward, by-the-book officer (FBI agent). You know the one, the one who really needs to loosen up and learn how to interact socially. It is basically the role she played in Miss Congeniality. If you didn’t like that movie, though, you won’t like this one. Regardless, Sandra Bullock nailed her role.

Certain running jokes only grew funnier over the course of the movie. I loved the police dog shaming, and Anthony loved the cat stealing and the sports themed Jesus paintings. I won’t go into great detail about these because I don’t want to ruin some of the only great things about it.

Marlon Wayans was the love interest. This might alienate some potential viewers, but let me assure you. He was not the typical idiotic comedic relief character that he normally gets stuck playing. In fact, he didn’t really crack any jokes at all. He looked very distinguished and competent, and I could actually see Sandra Bullock’s character falling for his character. The romance also was not a large part of the plot, which was fantastic. It wasn’t forced or rushed so that they were completely head-over-heels in love by the end of the movie. It actually seemed quite natural.

What We Didn’t Like:

Melissa McCarthy’s character was completely over the top. She was overly crude,and her cursing excessively and being lewd for quick laughs got old quickly. I feel like McCarthy has been typecast ever since Bridesmaids, which is really disappointing because she is capable of so much more and the characters are just not believable coming from her (or anyone).

It was a typical buddy cop movie, complete with a terrible and predictable plot. First they hate each other. Then they begrudgingly come to respect each other. Finally, they come to care about each other on a personal level. At the end, they are inseparable. Meanwhile, there are terrible chase sequences, explosions, and inept villains.

The movie was set in Boston, but the trademark accent was completely absent from the movie until it becomes a comedic device. McCarthy’s character was born and raised in Boston, but she has no accent. When her family is introduced, however, every one of them have mostly terrible accents, which are used to set up jokes like “are you a narc (pronounced knock).” If you can’t do a proper Boston accent, please, just don’t even try.

2.5

Summary

The Heat was pretty bad. It had a big laughs, and several small chuckles, but that wasn’t really enough for us. The rest of the audience seemed to like it, though. Our advice would be to definitely not see this movie in theaters. Wait for it to come out on Netflix or even television. It is not worth spending money.

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