Melissa McCarthy is The Heat! There are many reasons to see this funny, feminist, buddy-film, but really, Melissa McCarthy is enough. The Heat focuses on the unlikely pairing of uptight, arrogant FBI special agent Sarah Ashburn (Sandra Bullock) who can quote every rule in the book, and tough cop Shannon Mullins, who will cheerfully break rules, bones and anything else that gets in her way.
Much of the heat (and laughter) in the film comes from the clash between these two. Mullins is the beer belly and T shirt to Ashburn’s tailored gray suit; Bullock’s character is so tightly held in it’s a wonder she can breathe, while McCarthy cuts loose with glorious abandon. Women’s buddy films are rare, and somehow tend to the tragic rather than the comic, but in The Heat, one finds a satisfying action-comedy with two female leads. Sandra Bullock has tried this less-traveled road before with the unfortunately titled Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous. Yet while Regina King is a good actor, there were many reasons why that film did not work; to focus solely on the buddy element – the characters were simply too similar for comic impact. And that film did not have Melissa McCarthy.
It’s worth noting that The Heat reunites McCarthy with Paul Feig, who directed Bridesmaids. That film brought this outrageously talented comedian to the attention of all those who managed to thoughtlessly fritter away years of their lives without watching Gilmore Girls. The Heat lets McCarthy show her stuff, she easily dominates every scene she’s in, and she’s in most scenes. This is at least in part because Bullock’s character is a version of Miss Congeniality’s Gracie Hart gone sour – not very appealing. Mullins, while admittedly drawn in rather broad strokes, and fairly crude (her defense against racism: “9 out of 10 guys I fuck are black”) is redeemed by McCarthy, who has a luminous quality that transcends the limitations of her character.
The Heat (USA, 2013, 117 min, English with Hebrew subtitles)
Directed by Paul Feig, Starring: Sandra Bullock, Melissa McCarthy
The Heat opens today in Israeli theatres
