The Heat

Oil and water do not mix. This film proves that.
Water is Sarah Ashburn (Sandra Bullock). She is a tight-lipped FBI agent. She is smart and great at her job but doesn't work well with people.
Oil is Shannon Mullins (Melissa McCarthy). She is a Boston-native with a crazy, loud family. Shannon also legitly lives in a cheap apartment in bad part of town, but she has an arsenal full of weapons some of which may not be legal. Like Sarah, she is great at her job though in a much more unconventional way.
Sarah is reassigned to Boston as part of her new case to catch the nasty serial killer Larkin. When Shannon arrests a low level drug dealer, Sarah goes to interrogate him because he is attached to her case. But she doesn't know that no one but Shannon should interrogate Shannon's arrest victims. Shannon is so furious that she goes around her boss's office looking for his balls. I kid you not. Shannon always is crazy, especially in the interrogation room, even using Russian roulette with her gun, pointing it at the guy's balls so she will gain information.
They are forced to work together, something Sarah has never done well. Shannon is also less than thrilled about the idea. Shannon also illegally obtains the private records about the case. She is completely unprofessional. Sarah is always too professional and uptight. She finally loosens up, only after Shannon literally cuts her clothes to make her look sexier so she can closer to this guy involved in the case and tap his phone.
The night goes well, after all they successfully tap his phone but then as they leave the night club, they are being tailed. It turns out that the DEA is also after the same people. One of the DEAs is an albino whom Shannon makes fun of constantly.
However, the night ends badly with Jason (Michael Rapaport), Shannon's brother, whom she arrested, being back in the drug dealing business. Sarah wants to use him as a mole but Shannon refuses, preferring to keep him safe instead.

The film turns bad from here, though humor still sneaks in. Shannon's family must leave the city so their lives aren't in danger, which is an interesting scene, considering all four brothers, two girlfriends, parents and a huge dog squeeze into the van. However, it is all for naught, as Jason goes back to deal with the shipment. But he is caught and put into a coma.


Jason does survive, and Sarah (growing up in the foster care system) finally has a sister, in the form of Shannon. Maybe Sarah will finally get a love interest, in the form of her assistant, Levy (Marlon Wayans).
The film is entertaining, though sometimes the jokes go on for too long and the one scene is completely gross and unnecessary: where Sarah tries and fails to perform a tracheotomy but it goes horribly wrong. Still, Bullock and McCarthy turn in great performances, if McCarthy is quite over the top, but it is needed. Without her performance, the film would have boring and probably pretty miserable to watch. I will watch it again because I did have a good time with my friends. Too bad the script has its weak points. Grade: B+