The Heat (film)

The Heat
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Paul Feig
Produced by	Peter Chernin Jenno Topping
Written by	Katie Dippold
Starring	Sandra Bullock Melissa McCarthy Demián Bichir Marlon Wayans Michael Rapaport Jane Curtin
Music by	Mike Andrews
Cinematography	Robert Yeoman
Edited by	Brent White Jay Deuby
Production companies	Chernin Entertainment TSG Entertainment
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release dates	June 28, 2013 (2013-06-28)
Running time	117 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$43 million[2]
Box office	$229.9 million[2]

The Heat is a 2013 American buddy cop comedy film written by Katie Dippold and directed by Paul Feig. The plot centers on Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy as FBI Special Agent Sarah Ashburn and Boston Detective Shannon Mullins, who must take down a mobster.

The film was released in the United States on June 28, 2013. Upon release, the film received mixed to positive reviews from critics and was a success at the box-office, grossing $230 million worldwide from a $43 million budget.

Plot

FBI Special Agent Sarah Ashburn (Sandra Bullock) is a very skilled and effective investigator in New York City, but is despised by her fellow agents for her arrogance and condescending attitude. In Boston, she meets Shannon Mullins (Melissa McCarthy), a skilled but foulmouthed and rebellious police officer with the Boston Police Department. Ashburn's by-the-book philosophy clashes with Mullins' rugged and violent style of police work, proved during their attempt to interrogate local drug dealer Rojas (Spoken Reasons) who was arrested by Mullins. Under pressure from Hale (Demián Bichir), her FBI boss, Ashburn reluctantly agrees to team up with Mullins.

Ashburn and Mullins tail a local nightclub owner named Hank LeSoire (Adam Ray) to his place of business known as Club Ekko and successfully place a bug on his cell phone in an effort to get information on a drug lord, Simon Larkin. As they leave the club, Ashburn and Mullins are confronted by DEA agents Craig (Dan Bakkedahl) and Adam (Taran Killam), who have been working the Larkin case for several months and are worried that their case will be compromised. Ashburn and Mullins discover a surveillance video in the DEA agents' van showing Mullins' brother, Jason (Michael Rapaport), apparently connected to Larkin's organization. Jason was recently released from prison, having been put there by Mullins to keep him off the streets and out of trouble.

Ashburn convinces Mullins to go to her parents' home to ask Jason for information on Larkin. On their arrival at the home, it becomes apparent that Mullins' parents (Michael B. Tucci) and (Jane Curtin) (particularly her mother) and three other brothers, Peter (Joey McIntyre), Mark (Bill Burr) and Michael (Nathan Corddry) (two of whom have girlfriends, Gina (Jessica Chaffin) and Beth (Jamie Denbo) still resent Mullins for her involvement in Jason's incarceration. Jason, however, does not have any ill feelings toward his sister, and tips her off about the body of a murdered drug dealer by the name of Sal Netalie in an abandoned car. Chemicals on the victim's shoes lead Ashburn and Mullins to an abandoned paint factory, where they witness a drug dealer being murdered by Julian Vincent (Michael McDonald), vicious criminal and second-in-command of Larkin's organization. They apprehend Julian but are unable to extract any substantial information regarding Larkin's whereabouts, even with Mullins going so far as to play Russian Roulette with Julian's testicles.

The pair spend the evening bonding in a bar, where a drunk Ashburn reveals that her foster child past may be partly to blame for her attitude. After a night of raucous drinking and partying, Ashburn wakes up the following morning to discover that, in her drunkenness, she has given her car keys to Wayne (Steve Bannos), one of the bar patrons. After unsuccessfully pleading for the keys, Ashburn and Mullins watch as the patron starts the car and is killed by a bomb. They discover that Julian has escaped from custody and means to harm Mullins' family, so Mullins moves her family into a motel. Jason leaves, intending to join the Larkin organization in an attempt to help Mullins solve the case. Jason gives her a tip about a drug shipment coming into Boston Harbor. Despite Mullins' reluctance, Ashburn gets the FBI to take down the shipment. The FBI finds that the ship is actually an innocent pleasure cruise ship. Jason was being tested by Larkin, who shoots Jason for informing the FBI about the supposed drug shipment. Jason escapes death but falls into a coma. A falling out occurs between Mullins and Ashburn, with Mullins vowing to bring her brother's attacker to justice. They then reconcile when they arrest several drug dealers as a way of gaining leads to Larkin's whereabouts, including Rojas.

Ashburn and Mullins go to equip themselves with assault weapons from Mullins' extensive personal arsenal, and infiltrate one of Larkin's warehouses. Despite taking out several of Larkin's men with a hand grenade, the two officers are captured and bound. Julian is about to torture them with knives when he gets called away by Larkin. Before Julian leaves, he stabs Ashburn in the leg and leaves the knife in the wound. Mullins removes the knife from Ashburn's leg and uses it to cut the rope binding her hands. Before she can finish freeing herself and Ashburn, they are discovered by Craig and Adam. Craig begins to untie the two women, but is shot and killed by Adam. Ashburn and Mullins learn that Adam is actually Larkin, who has been working his own case from inside the DEA for several months. Julian returns and Larkin orders him to kill Ashburn and Mullins while he goes to the hospital to kill Jason. After Larkin leaves, Mullins manages to finish freeing herself and Ashburn incapacitates Julian with a head butt. Mullins and Ashburn race to the hospital to save Jason.

Upon their arrival, Mullins rushes to find Jason. Ashburn, hindered by the stab wound in her leg, lags behind, unable to move quickly. Mullins learns that, due to the foul language she and her family exhibit, the doctor moved Jason to another room in the hospital; she finds Jason's room, only to be disarmed by Larkin. He is about to kill Jason when Ashburn, having had to crawl to the room, subdues Larkin by shooting him in the genitals (much to Mullins' surprise, as she would never actually done so; scaring Julian earlier was only a way of making him talk). With Larkin captured, Ashburn requests to stay in the FBI's Boston field office, having developed a strong friendship with Mullins. Jason is shown having fully recovered from his coma. The film ends with Mullins receiving a commendation from the Boston Police Department. Members of her family are present and they cheer Mullins, now having reconciled with her. Ashburn later gets a call from Mullins to look in her year book. Mullins had signed the back of Ashburn's yearbook with the words, "Foster kid, now you have a sister", showing the strong friendship that Mullins felt for a previously unpopular Ashburn.

As a surprise, Mullins brings to Ashburn the cat that she had found in Ashburn's neighbor's house, believing it was hers. Earlier, when Mullins saw a photo of Ashburn with the neighbor's cat, Ashburn had lied and said it was her cat which had gone missing in New York. Mullins quickly deduces that the cat is not Ashburn's; Ashburn confesses and the cat is boxed to be shipped back, ending the film.

Cast

Release

Bullock at the UK gala screening of The Heat in June 2013.

Marketing

The first official full-length trailer of the film was released on November 16, 2012.^[3]

While originally intended to be released on April 5, 2013, Fox pushed back the release date to June 28, 2013.^[4] The film held its world premiere in New York City on June 23, 2013.^[5]

Box office

The Heat earned $39,115,043 in North American markets during its opening weekend.^[6] The film has grossed $159,582,188 in the domestic market and $70,348,583 internationally for a worldwide total of $229,930,771.^[2] The Heat was a box office success (from an estimated $43 million budget) and was also 2013's second-highest-grossing comedy (We're the Millers topped it with $269,994,119).

Home media

The Heat was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on October 15, 2013. The Blu-ray features an unrated version of the film, along with several audio commentaries: one with McCarthy and director Feig; one with the actors who portray the Mullins family; and one with the original Mystery Science Theater 3000 crew.^[7]

Reception

Critical response

The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a rating of 65% based on 166 reviews. The site's consensus reads, "The Heat is predictable, but Melissa McCarthy is reliably funny and Sandra Bullock proves a capable foil."^[8] Metacritic gives the film a score of 60 out of 100, based on 37 critics, signifying "mixed or average reviews".^[9]

Accolades

Sequel and spin-off

Shortly after the film's release, director Feig announced that the film will be followed by a sequel.^[10][11] As of October 2013, Bullock stated that she won't come back for the sequel and the project itself was put on hold.^[12][13] Instead, the sequel is presumably being replaced by a spin-off film that will center around Jamie Denbo and Jessica Chaffin's characters Beth and Gina from the first film.^[14][15]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Heat (film).

• Official website
• The Heat at the Internet Movie Database
• The Heat at Box Office Mojo
• The Heat at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Heat at Metacritic
• O'Hehir, Andrew. "“The Heat”: Police misconduct as feminism." Salon. June 28, 2013.
• The Heat at The Journalist