The Heat
Melissa McCarthy is an Oscar Nominated Actress. She’s an Oscar Nominated Actress! Let that sink in. Not because she isn’t a deserved acclaimed actress, but because the level of roles that are being thrown at her aren’t entirely grand. She has, since her stellar turn as Megan in Bridesmaids, been replicating that tired heavy girl act that is getting beyond tiresome. It’s irritating, because as a bigger girl myself, it’s a black mark against Hollywood that McCarthy can’t seem to get dramatic or romantic roles. She’s left to stoner-esque and terrible comedies as the overbearing large lady who ends up, gasp, having a sensitive side. McCarthy and a whole bunch of buxom ladies deserve better. It’s nice to know that, whilst The Heat follows so many tropes it’s exhausting, it attempts to bring out some level of grandness to McCarthy.
The Heat sees the union of McCarthy and the brilliant Sandra Bullock. They play a pair of different cops brought together to bring down a drug lord that has crossed nationally. Bullock is the uptight FBI agent Sarah Ashburn who is seen as inferior to her male counterparts. McCarthy is Shannon Mullins who is the foul-mouthed Boston cop who has a lot of gal and balls. Though they rub each other up the wrong way, they eventually come together to form a partnership in order to take down the criminals. Directed by Bridesmaids Paul Feig (who is going to helm Ghostbusters 3), The Heat is the usual fare held together by good performances.
Why Is It Bad?
It’s so predictable. It is essentially a combination Mr Congeniality and Bridesmaids but without the flare that made those films so great. It trots along with the usual jokes, sometimes offensive and a lot of the time crass, stringing along the notion that you have to be crude to be hilarious. It also bangs out the idea that two extremely different women cannot work together until they get to know one another, finding that common coil to focus on. You know what lines are going to be said, what situations are going to end in arguments and fall out so over the top that it is strenuous.
Why Is It Good?
Right. So your characters and plot are predictable, the only way to make it a tangiable and good effort is to give it to two actress who know what they are doing. Bullock and McCarthy are the best combination of uptight and lose, fat and thin, crazy and sane that have their personalities intertwined. They change the superiority, where uptight Ashburn gets judged and vice versa. The actresses are astutely aware of comedic timing and deliver it with enough gusto for you to chortle along with them. Rather than be bored by the tedious predictability, with their passionate performances you can happily lap it up.
The Heat is an average comedy but it’s good. Plus, the more female led comedies that don’t focus on our urgency to copulate with a man is brilliant and The Heat deserves merit in that aspect. While it’s not Bridesmaids, it is ok. And good for a night in on these harsh winter months.