The Heat (2013)

Kung Fu=guaranteed comedy

This movie is very funny. I’m not sure if it’s actually any good, but it’s awfully funny.

Essentially, the Heat is law-enforcement version of The Odd Couple. Crass Boston cop Mullins (Melissa McCarthy; Bridesmaids, This is 40, TV’s Mike & Molly) is the sloppy Oscar Madison character. She wears the same ratty sweat pants and raggedy vest for the entire film. Sandra Bullock (Gravity, Speed) is Ashburn, the uptight FBI-agent version of Felix Unger. She won’t swear, plays exclusively by-the-book, and wears business suits for every occasion. The mismatched duo wind up unlikely partners (think Steve Martin and John Candy in Planes, Trains and Automobiles, or Chris Farley and David Spade from Tommyboy), trying to track down a drug kingpin, in Boston. 

The plot involves…never mind what it involves. None of it is important (is the story what you remember from Caddyshack, Anchorman, Airplane, Kingpin, Vacation, the Jerk, I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, Animal House, Old School, or any episode of the Three Stooges? Of course not; you remember Carl Spackler’s monologue, Ron Burgundy’s suit and mustache, Woody Harrelson’s combover, Chris Farley’s manic energy, Kenny Powers’ mullet, “I’m a zit, get it?”, etc…). What is important is that it’s laugh-out-loud hysterical. The performances and jokes are what persists. They make or break a movie like this. 

For example, a scene where Mullins takes Ashburn to meet her churlish family is comedy gold. Mullins’ brothers are there (one of whom is former New Kid On the Block, and actual Boston native Joey McIntyre), with their stringy-haired, cheaply dressed, foul-mouthed girlfriends. They’re all fighting and screaming insults at one another, in thick Boston accents. Ashburn tries to fit it, couldn’t be more out of place. It’s perfect.

A friend of mine described Melissa McCarthy as a female Will Ferrell: willing to behave in unimaginably inappropriate ways, just to sell a joke. I agree with him, but would add that—at present—she’s funnier. Like him, she may be one-note. But it’s one helluva funny note. If you liked and laughed at her character in "Bridesmaids" (like I did; how is her talking about the “steam heat” rising from her “undercarriage” ever NOT going to be funny? She got an Oscar nomination for it, for Pete’s sake), you will here, too.

Bullock plays the straight-man well. Her awkward reactions to McCarthy’s ridiculous antics work well. She causes McCarthy lots of eye rolls, and exasperation.

The movie was directed by Paul Feig, who also made Bridesmaids. The comedy here is very similar: Lots of what my Boston friends would politely call “salty language,” dick jokes, scatological humor, paired with characters doing ridiculous, unrealistic, but terrifically hilarious physical comedy. 

Much credit should also go to writer Katie Dippold, for the inspired lines that fall from McCarthy’s lips. I have no idea how much dialogue was ad-libbed, but whatever wasn’t is still fantastic.

There are needless characters and plot lines. Marlon Wayans’ young FBI agent could have been edited out entirely, and the film would be no less amusing, or concise. Not all the comedy bits work, either. One non-sequitur scene of an impromptu tracheotomy (could that ever create laughter?) is gory, and falls flat. However, these criticisms are minor. The film’s filled with many other jokes that work terrifically.

If you find McCarthy funny, see the Heat. It might be kinda thin on story, but you’ll laugh plenty.