The Heat

Starring: Sandra Bullock & Mellisa McCarthy

Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars

The Heat is Paul Feig's follow him to his smash hit comedy, Bridesmaids. The trailers for this film made it look absolutely hysterical, a completely can't miss comedy, but it's extreme raunchiness turns out to be it's worst enemy. When an ambitious FBI agent (Sandra Bullock) is sent to Boston to catch a monster, she sees it as an open and shut case. What she didn't expect was to run into a local detective who is anything but conventional. The background story and case the pair are working on is really terrific and very well written, with just the right amount of comedy, this really could have been the female version of Lethal Weapon. Instead, the Heat goes so far over the top, that by the end it just isn't that funny anymore. Sandra Bullock is terrific, despite playing her usual whiny loner character. When she finally has had enough of McCarthy and snaps, it really is the best part of the whole film. Mellisa McCarthy is the problem here, as she too is playing her usual character, but to a real extreme. I find her to be very funny, but in this film, nothing is serious and every other word out of her mouth is an F bomb. Every time the story really starts to take off and become interesting, she shows up to screw everything up. Don't get me wrong here, this film is much better than some of the other comedies to come out lately, but as it's destine for a sequel, my hope is that they will tune it down a bit. The right line at the right time can really make a film like this and some scenes are hilarious, but the truth is, when the jokes are non-stop and the action is few and far between, it really hurts the film. Lethal Weapon would be the perfect template for a team like this and with the right jokes at the right time, they could find even more success than Glover and Gibson did.