The weekend, we went to see the new Sandra Bullock - Melissa McCarthy movie, The Heat. There's nothing new or ground breaking in this flick - it's a pretty standard "mis-matched buddy cop show". Except it features two female cops, and McCarthy is totally over-the-top hilarious.
Bullock is the big star, of course, but in this film, she's the straight man to McCarthy's antics. Her character, socially stunted FBI agent Ashburn, is uptight, unpopular, and very by the book. McCarthy's Detective Mullins is the polar opposite in every way - sloppy, crude, nasty - but a very effective cop.
It will come as no surprise that these two are forced to work together. Naturally, there's a lot of conflict between the two, and eventually they bond and catch the bad guys. If this description makes the movie sound very predictable, it should - you can know what's going to happen just by watching the trailer. That doesn't make the movie bad - suspense isn't the point here. It's plenty entertaining watching Bullock try to manage the foul-mouthed McCarthy, and the pratfalls and jokes are virtually non-stop. I found myself laughing through the whole thing - from the opening to the final credits.
I'd talk about other performances, but there's not much to say. The rest of the cast is fine, but no one really stands out. McCarthy's on-screen family is funny, the bad guys are really slimy, and the cops are just kind of there. The plot, such as it is, is fine, but this is not a plot-driven movie. It's all about McCarthy, and she's just really funny in this one.
If you're looking for a fun, easy watching movie - and if you're not easily offended by bad language - check out The Heat. It's certainly worth the price of a big bucket of popcorn!
