What’s it about?
It’s a buddy cop movie. With female leads. Sandra Bullock plays a Type A anal FBI agent who teams up with Melissa McCarthy’s foul-mouthed slovenly detective. You know the rest already.
What did we think?
Anthony Sherratt says: The Heat plays to nearly every buddy-cop stereotype and somehow succeeds in spite of it. The script’s working title was “Female Buddy Cop Movie” which is apparently the reason why Bullock read it. It isn’t high on originality (at all) as the two work their way through cliche after cliche but its rawness does actually manage to elicit laughter. It only works as a parody of the male counterpart movies but in that context it’s entertaining enough.
A disappointing performance from Bullock and McCarthy. Despite the successfully whimsical portrayal of law enforcement, these two leading ladies were in a constant battle to compete with the other’s renowned comedic elements and characterisation. This came as a distraction to the actual story, leaving us with a few laughs but no real understanding of where the film took us.