Monday, July 8, 2013
I don’t think anyone needed much convincing when they heard that Bridesmaids director Paul Feig and Melissa McCarthy were getting together to make another film. Throw Sandra Bullock into the mix and you have the makings of the phenomenally raunchy, buddy cop film. I was definitely on board with the concept and, luckily, the film delivered exactly what was promised. The Heat is really easy to sum up: it’s a buddy cop version of Bridesmaids. No joke. You have the straight laced, tight ass, FBI agent (Sandra Bullock) who inevitably gets partnered up with the no-nonsense, down and dirty street cop (Melissa McCarthy.) No matter how formulaic that sounds, it plays so beautifully. Trust me.
I think the key to making this movie was having the right actors in place, and they definitely nailed the casting on the leads. McCarthy has already proven that she can be a ridiculous comedic force, and she doesn’t fail here (unlike with Identity Thief.) And Bullock plays the perfect foil for McCarthy’s crazyness. While it is pretty much exactly the same as several roles she has played before (pretty much a carbon copy of her character in The Proposal) I think she did a great job with it. I think I should also point out that the supporting cast was pretty damn good too. Every member of the Mullins family was spot on. I loved their Bostonian accents and the scene with them at the dinner tables was absolutely hilarious. 
I think that when you are making a comedy, it’s become common knowledge that you don’t need a very showy director. People don’t love John Hughes movies because of the cinematography or anything, its the script and the acting that makes these movies great. But you do need a competent director. Paul Feig has given us so many amazing things in recent history (many of which I didn’t even know about until I looked at his IMDB page.) Not only did he direct Bridesmaids before this, he also directed a slew of The Office and Arrested Development episodes. But I think my favorite thing that he gave us was Freaks and Geeks. He wrote six of the eighteen episodes, and was the shows creator. For that alone, this man is a genius in my book. Oh, and he also played Mr. Pool on Sabrina the Teenage Witch. So...yea, that’s awesome. (I really went off on a tangent there...) So, while Feig’s visual style isn’t anything special, I think he has done a good job to get great performances out of everyone. And I commend him for not trying to make this super stylized and really mucking it up.
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While it isn’t quite as good as Bridesmaids, it is a solid follow-up for director Paul Feig. Clearly this guy has a knack for picking up solid scripts because, just like Bridesmaids, this film relies on great scripting and solid performances. One of the funniest movies of the year, I would suggest everyone go out and see The Heat.
Writing: 7/10
Directing: 6/10
Acting: 8/10
Pacing: 7/10
Rewatchability: 7.5/10
Score: 7.1/10
