The Heat Film Analysis

The Heat, a laugh-out-loud comedy brings the plots of laughter, friendship and criminals in an action crime buddy cop film. Directed by Paul Feig, Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy are breaking female stereotypes, which is still scarce to the film industry.

Despite the fact that there are many, usually dramatic, films with leading actresses playing strong and powerful women, the majority of people these days seem to go more for light comedies and action as opposed to intense, powerful dramas. And this film is exactly that; it is both an action and comedy genre. The only difference between this and the majority of action-comedy films is that the main characters are female.

The Heat introduces us to Sarah Ashburn (Sandra Bullock), a talented

FBI special agent who lives alone, is a workaholic and kidnap's the neighbor's cat often in order to get some affection. Working with other associates has been a problem for Ashburn, who strolls around so arrogantly that she has to be told no less than five times in one scene that she is going the wrong way.
On the other side of the spectrum is Boston Detective Mullins (Melissa McCarthy), a foul-mouthed and tough as nails Detective who wrecks havoc amongst neighborhood thugs, small time drug dealers and prostitutes.
When the opportunity for a promotion comes about, Sarah’s boss Hale (Demián Bichir) gives her the chance to prove she can be a team-player, by assigning her to take down a coldblooded Boston drug lord with assistance from the local Detective. At first, Ashburn and Mullins don't take kindly to each other's tactics, Ashburn is buttoned-up, and Mullins lets it all hang out.
Bullock has played cops before, and she does provide a very well spoken cop like demeanour, but here she adds a flicker of panic which makes her awkward and pathetic. The most unforgettable moment in the film is Bullock standing miserably in a nightclub bathroom, horrified because her Spanxs have been revealed. Mullins has an active sex life, approached twice by men who wonder why she never called them. Unlike Ashburn she seems conformable in her own skin. This may be because McCarthy is more than willing to let her weight be the butt of embarrassing jokes, as in a pretty funny scene in which she parks her old vehicle in a too narrow spot and can't open the door wide enough and because of this, struggles desperately to get out.
The film’s script by Katie Dippold provides ever-more outrageous scenarios for McCarthy to yell at everyone and anyone who gets in her way. Whether you're a street punk or the President of the United States, it doesn't matter to Detective Mullins, who makes her first big impression by throwing a watermelon at a young drug dealer.
Working the case brings Mullins and Ashburn into contact with a series of crackpots and weirdos, an albino D.E.A agent (Dan Bakkedahl) "you look evil as shit" comments Mullin and an exhausted police sergeant who says, "This job is destroying me.

I'm 43. My son calls me Grandpa". The stakes are raised when Mullins' family is put in danger. Mullins' dedication to her family runs so deep that she had previously sent her own brother (Michael Rapaport) to prison, causing her family members to no longer speak with her. Mullins' own mother (Jane Curtin) even slows down the car at one point as she drives past Mullins', holding up her middle finger. Now that he's out, he may be their only way into the cartel.

Bullock and McCarthy worked well cast alongside each other in this first female action comedy crime cop buddy. The two actresses adapted nicely in their differing characters, showing that no matter how different their approaches to law enforcement may be, their independent and strong natures effortlessly brought in laughs and attitudes towards each other. The smart costumes designed by Catherine Marie Thomas, creatively reinforced the characters’ personalities in the beginning of the film, but naturally changed as the F.B.I. agent and detective began accepting each other at times of the other’s crazy

antics.
By the time The Heat reaches its conclusion, it is safe to say that it's a simple movie, but the fact that it doesn't attempt to jam a heap of extra elements into it is part of what's so great about it. There's no forced romantic plot, no insane twists, just a couple of cops who want to put drug dealers away, and who, at one point, get really drunk together in a bar and dance with some old guys. It's pure fun for everybody, except maybe for those with a fear of blood.