The Heat (2013) - 7/10

The Heat proved to be a pleasant trip down memory lane to when comedy films like this were becoming routine outings in Hollywood. Lately, for some reason, it feels like Hollywood has moved away from these types of movies. Oh wait, it's because money. I forgot about money. 

But I can soap box about that later. Instead, lets focus up on this take on the buddy cop comedy starring Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock

1. Acting

The buddy cop genre is a tried and true formula that has been done many many times to varying level of success. The Heat is clearly borrowing heavily from its predecessors, namely Lethal Weapon, and trying to freshen it up with a gender swap. The end product is overall a success due to its two leads. 

Bullock plays the straight-woman in the buddy dynamic with ease. But it's also a role shes played before - the overly uptight and serious woman who meets someone that causes her to loosen up and change her ways (see The Proposal/Miss Congeniality). That sounds like a knock, but it isn't. She understood her assignment and acts as a great foil for her partner. 

McCarthy is clearly the Riggs character of the film. And this was right around the time of peak McCarthy. And Paul Feig, smartly, seems more the willing to just yell action and let her do her thing. I think my favorite part of McCarthy's performance here is that it runs a complete gamut of style. As always, she was highly improvisational. But moreso, she played around with moments of quiet/subtle quips, big giant swearing tirades, great physical comedy bits, and even some small moments of emotional vulnerability. It felt like a complete performance instead of a one-note character that some performers get trapped into. 

The rest of the cast also has some great moments. Most obviously, any scene that involved the various comedians that populated McCarthy's on screen family were hilarious.

2. Cinematography

There's not a ton that caught my eye in this area. It's serviceable and that's all it really needs to be. 

3. Production/Costume Design

Again, not a ton that caught my eye. The environment was mostly just an excuse to let the two leads move around locales and execute new bits.  

Otherwise, a notable moment was the choking scene in the restaurant. Great work from the props and costume teams there.

4. Writing

When you have performers (especially professional comedians) that are highly improvisational, I always find myself wondering what was actually on the page vs what made it to the screen. In this particular movie, the script feels like it was mostly an outline for the plot and the cast filled in the rest. It's not a bad thing because whatever was on the page originally clearly got the attention of some very funny people and got them onboard. I just have a feeling they deviated a lot and it was probably for the better.

Outside the dialog though, the plot is mostly a forgettable effort that really just serves the movie by keeping things moving and opening up new areas for the cast to play around in. 

5. Sound Design

I would say a slightly above average effort. Nothing particular inventive hear, but the soundtrack fits in nicely with the tone of the film by staying fun and being used in conjunction with the comedic moments of the film.

6. Editing

Ill have to do a deep dive at some point on comedy editing- but editing here was largely invisible which, as usual, is a good thing. Editing in comedies in particular needs to match the energy of the performers and in the respect I think this was well executed

7. Visual Effects

Not a ton of obvious VFX, but the blood splatters and one of the explosions caught my eye as a bit 'off'. 

8. Originality or Strength of Adaptation

As I already mentioned, this film is standing on the shoulders of the buddy cop films that came before. The gender swap for the leads is the obvious difference here and maybe the best compliment is that it felt very natural - as if it were an effortless transition to something overdue.

9. Stunt Coordination

I really enjoyed how the stunt team integrated in the physical comedy. I wonder how much was the performer and how much was the stunt team, but nevertheless, the execution is great. 

10. Direction

Paul Feig is certainly no stranger to comedies, both on TV and film. His sensibilities clearly helped curate an above average comedy here and I really hope he and McCarthy get another crack at a crowd pleasing comedy like this again in the near future. 

Legacy/Final Thoughts 

Unfortunately, I think the legacy of this film may be that it marked an era of comedy films that was starting to die off. Not because they were not good, but because Hollywood started to heavily shift their money to established IPs and let streaming services absorb the mid-budget comedy. The only problem there being that steamers don't seems to be as good at making them. 

I think the talent also started to move away from these types of films. Hollywood comedy staples like McCarthy, Will Ferrel, Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller, and the many stars of Judd Apatow's films from the 2010s started to become more interested in diversifying their resumes. 

In the short term, I don't see any particular group of actors, writers or directors trying to fill the void. That's not to say the genre is dead, just that these movies are becoming few and far between. I hope that changes.