The Heat

The Heat has Sandra Bullock starring with Bridesmaids standout Melissa McCarthy and director Paul Feig involved. The women play law enforcement officials in the middle of a big case. McCarthy plays a tough Boston cop, who isn’t too pleased when a federal agent, Bullock, comes into her territory. The Bridesmaids connection is important to mention because the story goes for the same comedy with a heart approach. Unfortunately, someone seems to have forgotten the rest of the jokes.

The film focuses on establishing the odd couple dynamic between the two leading ladies. After all, it’s not every day you have an Oscar winner (Bullock) and an Emmy winner (McCarthy) guide your film. After a few years of similar characters, I’m about finished with the tired McCarthy arc that occurs in all of her films. She begins as a gross jerk and then by the end of the film, her disgusting aspects turn into quirks and we learn she was a jerk because of some deep unresolved issue. If that doesn’t sound familiar go watch Bridesmaids and Identity Thief. Bullock isn’t so bad, but her transformation from stuck up agent to reasonable human being is a slow process. It isn’t until the last act where the awkwardness actually produces laughs.

I shouldn’t be so tough on the film. The Heat is perfectly pleasant. There are funny moments, but overall it’s a diluted effort. The characters are developed well, even if the audience isn’t completely sold on why we should like them. The two hour run time shows that the overlying mystery is considered important, but it’s so predictable that 90 minutes would be more than enough time to set up the case and include all of the laughs. At two hours it moves slowly. I suppose I just expected more from the Oscar/Emmy winning leads.

Each film earns either zero, a half or a full arrow in five categories. The categories are Acting, Writing/Directing, Emotion, Innovation and Overall Impression. The arrows are added up to equal the full score.