Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 63% (Critics) / 78% (Audience)
Directed By: Paul Feig
Written By: Katie Dippold
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Melissa McCarthy, Demián Bichir, Marlon Wayans and Michael Rapaport
Studio: 20th Century Fox

Synopsis:Uptight FBI special agent Sarah Ashburn is paired with testy Boston cop Shannon Mullins in order to take down a ruthless drug lord. The hitch: neither woman has ever had a partner — or a friend for that matter. – (Source)

The Good:
The #1 ingredient when it comes to a successful “buddy cop” movie is the chemistry between the two leads and in Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock, THE HEAT has a winning combo. The two women played off one another wonderfully with McCarthy getting most of the big laughs as the gruff, politically incorrect Detective Shannon Mullins and Bullock playing the straight man role as the buttoned up, overly ambitious FBI Agent Sarah Ashburn.
The other appealing thing about this twosome was that it never felt like they were “playing women”; these two roles could have just as easily been cast with two men and not much of a change to the script would have been needed. That universal nature was commendable and had me looking at the team of Mullins and Ashburn as being worthy of mentioning alongside great buddy cop duos like Murtaugh and Riggs and Cates and Hammond.

The Bad:
As great as the chemistry/performances between/by Bullock and McCarthy was it was a shame that the script was not up the same quality. This was a truly paint by numbers story with nothing original about it except that it featured two women in the lead roles.

The Ugly
The big reveal of who the main bad guy turned out to be was a surprise but not a good one. The fact that the choice for who the primary villain was turned out to be so underwhelming should have been something that the writer and director realized and then changed before releasing this movie to the masses.
I also have to take a point away for not putting the awesome Tony Hale in a better role.

Final Verdict: THE HEAT is a predictable story that is able to outkick it’s coverage due to the amazing chemistry and performances by its two stars. Bullock and McCarthy take what could have been a total derivative borefest and make it into an enjoyable film that is well worth seeing and makes me definitely want to see more of these character’s misadventures.

Grade: B-