Dir. Paul Feig
117 Minutes
Rated R
Watch Trailer
**Update: I apologize...I made a big mistake - Bridesmaids was not Paul Feig's first directed film. I promise I will check all my information in the future. Sorry if anybody was upset about this...**
Paul Feig's feature film debut, Bridesmaids, came out a couple years ago to a staggering amount of critical and financial success, especially for being an R-Rated women-centric gross-out comedy. It gave a huge boost to Feig's notoriety and showed that Kristen Wiig was more than just a funny lady on SNL (and netted her an Oscar nomination for Original Screenplay to boot). But one certain supporting actress, Melissa McCarthy, was perhaps one of the least expected overnight Hollywood success stories to have come out of the film. In a mere two years McCarthy has gone from a no-name sitcom star to a household name that can open a summer blockbuster, in large part to her role as Megan in Bridesmaids. The Heat marks Feig's return to female-centered comedy and brings together McCarthy and Sandra Bullock for a more vagina-laden take on the buddy cop genre. Similarly to Bridesmaids, The Heat proves that the ladies can be just as funny and disgusting as the guys, and that Feig might be one of the best comedic directors working today.
Sandra Bullock plays a slightly arrogant but talented FBI agent Sarah Ashburn, who wants nothing more than to make it higher in the ranks. To prove herself, she's sent on an assignment in Boston to take down a drug lord, but the hitch is she's partnered with Shannon Mullins (McCarthy), a foul-mouthed, short-fused Boston detective. The story is pretty standard buddy cop fare, with the two having to work together despite each other, but the two leads sell it so naturally it doesn't matter that you've seen the plot a hundred times before. Bullock and McCarthy are totally funny and there are laughs from beginning-to-end. They work extremely well off of one another, and the relationship develops and grows in a way that's just magical. It's hard to review comedies, because I don't want to give any punchlines away, but McCarthy is a force of nature in this. Although she cursed way too much, her unrelenting ability to go for the big laughs every time was astonishing; I wasn't sure which lines were scripted or ad-libbed, but she totally owned that character regardless. She steals the show in many ways, but Bullock gets to shine as well, and when the two are together, it's a freight train of comedy.
Why the critics aren't responding to this is beyond me. I seriously can't understand how you could not leave this film without feeling good. Sure the general plot was lame, and I will admit that Marlon Wayans is completely wasted as nothing more than a potential love interest for Bullock, but there are so many genuine belly laughs to be had, and the characters are truly fun to watch. There are gross-out moments and lines of dialogue that I'm sure will stick with me for some time, and although it could've been cut down and not have lost much, the nearly two hour run time doesn't drag at all. I just don't get critics. First they bash Man of Steel and now this? I hope this movie makes a shitload of money to prove them wrong and all those people who don't think women should have lead roles in big films should go fuck themselves square in the ass.
Rating B+
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