Review: The Heat

The Heat
Cert: 15 / 117 mins / Dir. Paul Feig



Director, Paul Feig, coasts on the charm of Bridesmaids with a screenplay that Katie Dippold apparently wrote in her lunch hour. And if a hackneyed buddy-cop comedy wasn't going to be mechanical enough already, Melissa McCarthy is employed to do her thing of being hilariously obnoxious, then acting all hurt and introspective when her character can't shout/shoot/punch/swear her way out of a situation. But hey, at least no-one had to finish her part of the script; you can tell her improvised sections because she pauses awkwardly after a line, thinks of something funny to add, then ignores it and says something with 'fuck' in, instead. Again. If I wanted that, I'd go and watch a Danny McBride film.

But it's not all bad. Okay, it is mostly bad, but the chemistry between McCarthy and Bullock is good, and there are plenty of chuckles and a couple of guffaws. It just feels like a first draft; a scribbling of ideas and sketches. Even if you can trick your brain into accepting that McCarthy's Mullins could ever be a cop with the attitude and behaviour she displays, the film is littered with things that just make no sense…

• Why does Bullock's Ashburn need to 'trash-up' her outfit in the club? It's a classy joint, not a biker bar.
• Why would the bad guy Julian leave a knife sticking out of Ashburn's leg knowing that Mullins can easily pull it out?
• Why does a police officer with known insubordination issues and a criminal family have an unlocked refrigerator stacked full of illegal weapons in her apartment?)

…you get the idea.

That trailer contains a lot of the film's best jokes. It also contains ones which aren't in the theatrical release, either being swapped out for alternate takes (passing out on the pool table) or just cut altogether ("he'll shake it off"). I dread to think how much footage was filmed that didn't get used. There's a closer-scene before the main credits start rolling, but no blooper-reel, which seems unusual. That's the DVD extras sorted, I guess.

Marlon Wayans is underused. Tom Wilson is underused. Some of the gags work; the film doesn't. Your mileage will vary. Oh, and the Deee-Lite sequence in the bar is one of the most embarrassing things I have ever seen.

And Fox: I may not exactly be in McCarthy's fan-club, but she's a selling point for the film. At least have the decency to put her face on the poster, eh?

Yeah.



I chuckled at some things and winced at others.



Probably. That's the worst part.



Telly.



Yes.



Probably not.



Nope.

Have any of you got something else for Melissa McCarthy to do? Hollywood's running out of ideas.

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• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
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