★★★
Its been way too long since we’ve had a good buddy cop
movie. The “Lethal Weapon” series was great, and I – for one – miss those
movies. We need another one, but that is unlikely to happen. Several different
movies have tried to follow this formula, and most have failed. When I first
saw the trailers for “The Heat” back in January (when it was originally slated
to be released in April), I rolled my eyes and thought I knew exactly how this
movie was going to play out. Knowing the formula to buddy cop movies, I was
correct that I knew how it begin and end. Where I was wrong was just how good “The
Heat” would actually be.
Sandra Bullock plays FBI Special Agent Sarah Asburn, a by
the book agent who none of her colleagues like. She’s arrogant and a showoff.
Suddenly, there’s a supervisor position open in her office that she thinks is
right for her. Her boss Agent Hale (Demian Bichir) isn’t so sure since people
despise her so much. She assigns her a case in Boston. If she can solve it,
they’ll talk about the promotion.
Asburn is off to Boston where she meets up with Agent Levy
(Marlon Wayans) who refers her to the local police department to look into some
additional information. There, she meets Detective Shannon Mullins (Melissa
McCarthy). Mullins is quite the opposite of Asburn. Whereas Asburn is very by
the books and follows all the teachings from the Academy, Mullins just wings
it. She uses her brash personality to intimidate everyone she meets.
Asburn can’t work with Mullins; she’s the Oscar to her
Felix. She tries to get Hale to force her out of the investigation, but Hale
thinks Mullins can be a valued asset to the Bureau. She disagrees, but Hale
insists that her willingness to work with a local cop will look really good
when she tries to apply for the promotion.
The rest of “The Heat” follows that basic blueprint of a
typical buddy-cop film like the “Lethal Weapon” movies. Even though it follows
this formula, it doesn’t feel very generic; it feels like a true original,
something that is completely lacking in the current studio system.
Director Paul Fieg is very familiar with getting great
comedic performances out his talent. He’s a seasoned television director,
having directed multiple episodes of “Arrested Development”, “Nurse Jackie” and
“The Office” in addition to creating the cult-hit show “Freaks & Geeks”.
He’s also responsible for one of the best all-around comedies in recent years,
“Bridesmaids” (where he directed McCarthy to her first Oscar nomination).
With “The Heat”, Fieg continues to polish his skills as one
of the finest comedic talents behind the camera. He’s able to bring out great
performances by his two leading actresses. Both have come from different types
of comedy backgrounds, and they’ve been molded to fit exactly what the script has
required them to be. Bullock and McCarthy weren’t just cast because they’re box
office draws; they were cast because they were the two best actresses out there
that could have pulled these rolls off.
“The Heat” is the first screenplay by writer Katie Dippold,
a former staff writer for “MADtv” and current writer for “Parks and
Recreation”. Her first attempt at writing a feature film is a great success. It
is full of joke after joke. I probably missed half of them because everyone was
laughing so hard that the follow up lines were drowned out by laughter. And its
not just slapstick humor. There are plenty of jokes related to the situation,
and everything is derived right from the plot.
Her two main characters are two people we actually like
because they’re real. Each comes with several layers of different back-story,
which allows us to develop empathy toward them. Empathy is why Riggs and
Murtaugh in “Lethal Weapon” are so easy to root for. Character depth is
severely lacking in most Hollywood films these days (they sure don’t make ‘em
like they used to), but Dippold has turned that problem right around. Asburn
and Mullins are not only interesting characters, they’re exciting and easy to
cheer for.
There are a few gaping plot holes present that I’m surprised
got through to the finished product. A seasoned television writer like Dippold
should have caught some of them. Giving them away would mean to give away some
spoilers, so I won’t be doing that. The final act of the film felt rushed. The
first and second acts were built so well, but they appear to have frantically
raced to resolve the main plot points before the picture hit the two-hour mark.
This leaves subplots unresolved, something I cannot stand.
But gripes aside, there won’t be a funnier movie this summer
than “The Heat”. I was very skeptical going in to this film after seeing the
trailer for several months. It looked like “Miss Congeniality” trying to solve
crimes with the “Identify Thief”. I couldn’t have been more wrong. There is so
much to like about this film. Its crude and vulgar with two hours of non-stop
laughs. I really hope that this is the start of new, much needed series of
buddy cop films.
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