10th Anniversary TLDR: The Heat (2013)
What do Paul Feig and Wes Anderson have in common? Exactly one thing.
Plot: Uptight and straight-laced, FBI Special Agent Sarah Ashburn is a methodical investigator with a reputation for excellence–and hyper-arrogance. Shannon Mullins, one of Boston P.D.’s “finest,” is foul-mouthed and has a very short fuse, and uses her gut instinct and street smarts to catch the most elusive criminals. Neither has ever had a partner, or a friend for that matter. When these two wildly incompatible law officers join forces to bring down a ruthless drug lord, they become the last thing anyone expected: Buddies.
Direction: Paul Feig was at the height of his powers in 2013. Fresh off the massive success that was Bridesmaids, he made this very similar film, the very similar Spy, and had his sights set on the inevitably controversial Ghostbusters reboot. He's had to branch out into different styles of (Melissa McCarthy-less) comedy with less sure success since then. This era of comedy is long gone, but no one did it like him, for better or worse.
Screenplay: Katie Dippold also wrote some episodes of Parks and Rec, Feig's Ghostbusters, and Snatched (which I enjoy and think is underrated) - so a mixed bag. Who knows how much of this she actually wrote because a lot of it feels improvised (probably because Feig is not shy to admit that there's a lot of improv on his sets), but at the very least she's got the bones of a buddy-cop action-comedy down.
Performances: Every once in a while, Sandra Bullock will make a movie like this: Miss Congeniality, The Lost City, even The Proposal has a similar flavor. I prefer her dramatic outings, but she can do it all. Melissa McCarthy, meanwhile, pays her bills doing this and almost exclusively this. She's made a few detours into drama, sure, but this, Bridesmaids, Identity Thief, Life of the Party...that's how she will forever be known. That's because she does this thing very well. And 2013 was the prime for this thing. Some fun supporting performances from Marlon Wayans, Bill Burr, and Nate Corddry.
Cinematography: Robert Yeoman is the go-to cinematographer for both Paul Feig...and Wes Anderson. How did that happen?
Best moment: I'm ashamed to say that I laughed at this line 10 years ago and still find it funny, largely because of McCarthy's signature unabashed commitment to the bit: Hey, has anyone seen the captain's balls? They're like really, really tiny little girl balls, if little girls had balls.
Fun fact: This movie made $230 million in international receipts. That's the most 2013 thing of all time.
Imaginary accolade: Only Sandra Bullock 2013 Movie I’ve Been Able to Finish (Not only did I think I was going to puke watching Gravity, but getting lost in space is probably my number one fear of all time. I barely made it halfway.)
Everything is too long. Is it too long? Two hours? Probably too long. There was actually a point where I thought it was almost over, checked the time, and there were still 40 minutes left...
Rating: Two Foul Play references out of four.
Credit: Plot synopsis from Letterboxd via TMDb.
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