The Heat

THE HEAT--Directed by Paul Feig/ Starring Sandra Bullock, Melissa McCarthy, Demián Bichir, Michael McDonald/written by Katie Dippold/117 min/rated R

Bifocal Reviews written by Ageless1der, Barbara Rich & The Other Guy

(B) This movie is the female Odd Couple with guns. Ms. straight-laced, professional FBI agent (played by Sandra Bullock), and Ms. Boston mean-streets, toilet-mouth cop-savant (Melissa McCarthy), don’t start out on the right foot, but eventually (after many awkward and daring situations) learn to respect and like each other. Parts of this film were a little over the top for me. By that I mean, I enjoy funny, but I don’t like silly. The writer was right on with much of the clever dialog, but there were too many F-bombs. Still, I think it was overall very funny, but this film could very easily have had a wider audience if it were not for all the profanity. I give it two and a half binoculars.

(OG) As for the “wider audience” comment above, I have to add that I think it’s a shame that an opportunity to portray women in traditionally male roles, to a younger female audience was wasted here. For the sake of unnecessary language, catering to the lowest common denominator, this film has an R rating. That effectively cuts out the most impressionable (and largest) female-viewing audience. There isn’t really much blood—even though a few people are shot through the forehead, they don’t bleed much—and there is no nudity, so a PG-13 rating would have been easy, except for the cursing. On the “too much blood” issue, there is a funny tracheotomy scene, that has plenty of it, but I won’t ruin it for you by giving any details here. I know there are those who think that is how cops talk (admittedly, I have a few curse words in my last novel about cops) but Angie Dickenson, Tyne Daly, Sharon Gless and all of Charlie’s Angels managed to survive on primetime TV in essentially the same role without resorting to this cliché.  Other than that, I have no real complaints. This movie is not great, but not horrible. If you like Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock (and a bunch of other actors you’ve seen before), then you’ll live through this two hours laughing a few times and probably not falling asleep. I give it a very lean two binoculars.