‘The Heat’ glimmers with something very
rare in the film industry- an effective blend of genres. Not only is it
rip-roaringly funny, it also has an action-packed, tense storyline to keep you
on the edge of your seat. Starring Sandra
Bullock as stuck-up, workaholic Special Agent Sarah Ashburn and comedy queen Melissa
McCarthy as loudmouth, rebellious Police Officer Shannon Mullins, the film showcases the pair as a twosome who struggle
to put up with one another’s stubborn habits but wind up merging their
differing dexterities to become an unstoppable, comical dream team.
Detested
by her co-workers, skilled Sarah Ashburn
is tested by her New York boss as she’s trialled for a promotion and shipped to
Boston, where she works against her will with Shannon. The duo encounter drug dealers, murders and gangs and work
together to combat a notorious local drug dealer. Shannon’s brother Jason
(Michael Rappaport), who’s just been released from prison, has had
confrontations with the dealer in the past. As the officers bond over drunken
nights, fist-fights and tons of near misses, not to mention one epic dance
routine, they (of course) learn to blend their skills just in time to combat
the bad guys.
For its
entire 117 minutes, ‘The Heat’ is
impeccably edited as the variety of shots are wonderfully slapped together dynamically
and it really caters to a diverse audience. This proves that director Paul Feig, who charmed movie-goers with ‘Bridesmaids’ back in 2011 has created
something warm, whimsical and incredibly witty, if a little formulaic. Although
let’s face it, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! It may not have the visual
flair of ‘Bridesmaids,’ but ‘The Heat’ is on another level humour
wise.
Funnily
enough, in all the 30 years of the Comedy genre, particularly buddy-cop style
movies, male leads have been present in bucket-loads, yet ‘The Heat’ embraces female protagonists in the best light- a
humour-ridden one. It’s so invigorating to spot an all-female lead cast in a Hollywood
film and there’s plenty of comedy for both sexes to relish, no matter their
sense of humour. The film’s full of moments that are sure to have rip-roaring
laughter bursting from every mouth in the cinema.
One side-splitting,
stand-out scene sees the officers dangling a criminal from his ankles on a
balcony and they simply don’t possess the strength to haul him back up ,so he
ends up falling onto a parked car below. And it’s safe to say it’s just as consistently
belly-laugh worthy as its male-fronted predecessors and highlights how much the
key cast members excel at physical comedy in particular. Although there may not
be any striking set pieces or mesmerising costumes as such, the various types
of comedy are the flick’s bread and butter.
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| "One side-splitting...scene..." |
The
script is well-honed, hilarious and memorable, which gives the film great
potential for future popularity, especially considering it happens to be screenwriter
Katie Dippold’s first film, “I'll
shut the door on you. You lay down here and put your head in the door. And I'll
slam it about 157,000 times!” It’s also full of brilliant slapstick humour as
well as enough one-liners to keep even those with the attention span of the
average goldfish chuckling, specifically when acid tongued, loose cannon Shannon encounters an albino colleague, “You look a little pale. Snowcone.”,
not to mention when she gushes about the progress Jason’s made since leaving prison, particularly his special skill
of “Keepin’ it real.” Yet it’s obvious that Dippold
is an improvisational comedian as well as a screenwriter and actress, as she’s
familiar with what’s funny, why it’s funny and who it might appeal to.
‘The Heat’’s got just the right dose of
emotion to keep it comical as well as entertaining, and there’s even talks in
the US of a sequel given how popular it’s been. The mismatched turned dynamite policing
pair retain ferociously accurate comic timing throughout the movie and deliver detailed
dramatic performances despite the tendency with comedies to be a little thin on
the ground when it comes to character quirks and development. However the interplay
between the two stars shoves the film straight to the top of movie lovers’ essential
viewing list.
As chalk
and cheese co-workers turned best friends,
McCarthy and Bullock both boast memorable
acting performances along with undeniable chemistry which carries the film
throughout and makes you wonder why no one’s teamed them up before. ‘The Heat’ is a refreshing, solid
showing in a summer of cinema littered with big-budget action films. It’s a
real laugh-riot with a liberatingly vulgar script and certainly not your
average fuzz film. It’s no surprise that The Heat 2 may already be in the
pipeline-‘The Heat’ seriously
sizzles!
5/5
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