Release Date: October 15, 2013
Rating: R / Unrated
Running Time: 117 minutes

Oscar® Winner Sandra Bullock* and Oscar® Nominee Melissa McCarthy** team up in this outrageously funny comedy from the director of Bridesmaids, Paul Feig. Uptight FBI Special Agent Sarah Ashburn (Bullock) and foul-mouthed Boston cop Shannon Mullins (McCarthy) couldn’t be more incompatible. But when they join forces to bring down a ruthless drug lord, they become the last thing anyone expected…buddies. *2010, Best Performance By An Actress In A Leading Role, The Blind Side. **2011, Best Performance By An Actress In A Supporting Role, Bridesmaids.

While The Heat is certainly laugh out loud funny, lots of time was wasted on Mullins’ potty dialogue rather than constant laughs and a tighter story. A female buddy cop movie is long overdue but did it really need to be so filthy (language wise)? I don’t mind profanity but this was a lot. Talk about an excess. In an effort to make Mullins three dimensional, mainly focusing on her language really made her one dimensional. McCarthy and Bullock have fantastic chemistry and the bones of the story are solid. However, it seemed too much time was spent focusing on shaping these characters, way too much was invested in the personalities of the characters, so little room was left to really dive into much else. I did appreciate seeing Kaitlin Olson (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) but even that victory is short lived.

It almost seemed like the story was rushed so the spotlight on Mullins and Ashburn, Mullins in particular could be front and center. Because there was an imbalance here, the movie wasn’t as entertaining as it could have been but of course, with these leads, it’s still worth watching. That said, is it me or are comedies getting unnecessarily longer? Let’s not even get started on the mole. Why there was a mole period is beyond me. Been there, done that.

You have the opportunity to write (and rewrite) a screenplay with Bullock and McCarthy in the lead and don’t bother to raise the stakes and shake up the twists at all? It just seems like a wasted opportunity, like no heavy risks were taken. Sticking to a formula with big names especially is absurd. For this reason alone, this entire project is disappointing. I also don’t like comedies that suddenly get serious at the home stretch. What’s up with that? This film was imbalanced in more ways than one. But I can’t bring myself to say that I didn’t enjoy the film, because to some extent I did. Just seeing Bullock and McCarthy on the screen together made me happy. But I don’t see myself watching this movie repeatedly. There were just too many big flaws to look the other way.

Bonus Features:

*Unrated Version

*Von Bloopers (15:41 minutes)

*Mullins Family Fun (9:20 minutes) – Director, Paul Feig introduces riffs that hit the cutting room floor featuring the Mullins Family. If you’re fascinated by improv, this is worth watching.

*Acting Master Class (8:28 minutes) – Director, Paul Feig introduces riffs that were cut featuring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy. Of all the scenes to pick riffs to spotlight, I find it interesting and slightly disappointing that it’d be this one. I chuckled but this particular part of the scene didn’t grab me initially and didn’t grab me here so there was little to gain here. That said, seeing these two ladies at work is something to really appreciate and respect.

Let’s Get Physical (6:31 minutes) – If you like physical comedy, this is the feature for you. Again, footage from the cutting room floor. Director, Paul Feig introduces the feature.

Police Brutality (6:43 minutes) – Director, Paul Feig introduces even more improv featuring Melissa McCarthy. This was actually much funnier than the “Acting Master Class” feature.

Supporting Cast Cavalcade (7:44 minutes) – Director, Paul Feig introduces improv moments from the supporting cast members. Worth watching.

Over and Out (36 seconds) – Director, Paul Feig thanks the viewers for watching the above moments. Not really worth watching.

All the Stuff We Had To Take Out But Still Think Is Funny – There are eleven deleted scenes (18:12 minutes), twelve extended scenes (14:45 minutes), and four alternate scenes (3:41 minutes) in this feature. If there are two features you watch on this entire Blu-ray, let it be the extended and alternate scenes. Hysterical. Forget all the rest.

How The Heat was Made (19:44 minutes) – Director, Paul Feig takes viewers behind the scenes on location in Boston, MA and even to the first script read-through as Feig, the cast and crew talk about all that it took to create the film. From physical comedy and stunts to shooting challenges on the street, this is the fun behind the scenes feature that you were probably looking for.

Appearing in this feature:
Screenwriter, Katie Dippold
Production Designer, Jefferson Sage
Cast Members, Sandra Bullock, Melissa McCarthy, Tony Hale, Jessica Chaffin, Jane Curtin, Bill Burr, Spoken Reasons, Michael McDonald

June 23, 2013 Premiere of The Heat at the Ziegfeld Theater – This is not red carpet premiere footage, this is you watching the movie with the premiere audience in the background cheering, laughing, and so on. It’s fun and exciting but would have been even better had some red carpet footage been shown before jumping right into the movie.

The Original Lineup from Mystery Science Theater 3000 Comments on The Heat – This is probably the most hysterical commentary I’ve ever listened to. Imagine a group of your funniest friends giving commentary on any movie and condense those voices to two people to get this commentary. Brilliant. They took a risk with this and it works, oh so well. You have to understand and appreciate comedy and viewers in order to really truly appreciate this.

*Commentary – Director, Paul Feig conducts the commentary for the unrated version of the film while there are two separate commentaries for the theatrical version, the first including Melissa McCarthy and Katie Dippold among others and the second including Paul Feig, Jessica Chaffin, Jamie Denbo, Michael Tucci, and Jane Curtin as their characters – the Mullins family. Power to you if you can sit through the entire commentary of the Mullins. Woo. I’m not sure if they broke character because I couldn’t finish it. Though I do encourage viewers to listen to the commentary McCarthy leads.

Own The Heat on Blu-ray and DVD today.