Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

One thing I hate about female-driven comedy is the oft-sub par material that women have to work with. The punchline is always something tasteless or stale - like age, body image or gender roles. For some reason, the misogynistic question of whether or not women are funny is still a topic of hot debate. Kristen Wiig's "Bridesmaids" should have been enough to shut these guys up once and for all, but alas, it was not. "The Heat" reunites "Bridesmaids" director Paul Feig and Melissa McCarthy, who, after 15 years in show business, was finally recognized as the star that she is, after the release of that film, which earned her an Academy Award nomination. Since then, McCarthy has been one busy gal - on her time off from filming her sitcom "Mike & Molly," this married mother of two has been filming movies left and right. She's a box office sure thing - the critically panned "Identity Thief" scored $135 million at the box office, and "The Heat", originally planned for an April 2013 release, was moved to the more profitable and lucrative summer movie season by 20th Century Fox, when the film played astoundingly well to test audiences. And it was worth the wait. "The Heat" isn't very original, thematically or plot-wise. It's a buddy-cop movie, and it's "The Odd Couple," with women, but it's also so much more than that, and here's why. It's funny. It works. The chemistry between the two leads is exuberant enough to make the two lead characters instantly likable. "The Heat" follows Sarah Ashburn (Bullock), an uptight and straitlaced FBI special agent who is sent to Boston to take down a notorious drug lord, with the possibility of a big promotion, should she do her job well. She's thrown together with foulmouthed, brash and brazen Shannon Mullins, who is an opposite personality, to say the least. But McCarthy and Bullock bring out the best in each other, in a film where much of the humor is clearly reliant on improvisation. It's easy to think that these women are good friends in real life, considering how well they play off of each other in this film. Vanity has no place in comedy, and this is something that McCarthy completely understands. Sandra Bullock is wearing makeup and looks gorgeous throughout the whole movie, while McCarthy does much better with the rough exterior, wearing little to no makeup at any given time, and engages in the brash physical comedy more than Bullock does...but McCarthy often gets the bigger laughs, and leaves a more lasting impression. That's not to say that Bullock isn't great in her own right either. One thing I particularly liked in this film was the lack of a romantic storyline. With female-driven comedies, we almost always see a love story of some kind - because that's the cliche. It could have had running gags about age and body image, or either of these characters finding a husband, but it doesn't. Chick flick cliches are thankfully avoided, making this movie just as enjoyable for men, as it is women. The one time the issue of being a woman in a testosterone-driven workplace is brought up, it's discussed in a "do we have to talk about this?" kind of way. Director Paul Feig seems to have a knack for capturing McCarthy at her best. She's given the two best performances of her film career in "Bridesmaids" and "The Heat." I just hope they collaborate for Fieg's next project. In the end, "The Heat" is a movie that really is funny the entire way through, with two instantly likable and non-stereotypical female leads. It's about as subtle as a sledgehammer, but the laughs are magical, and they just keep coming. Grade: A