REVIEW: THE HEAT

I have to confess the only thing I'd ever seen Melissa McCarthy up to this point was her hilarious guest appearances on "SNL," the peak performances trumping with her physical slapstick. I've always wanted to see "Bridesmaids" to see that Oscar-nominated performance of hers, but in all honesty, "Identity Thief" and "Mike & Molly" looked silly to me, and I never watched "Samantha Who" or "Gilmore Girls." All I had to judge on was reviews claiming she carried "The Heat" on her shoulders, and those choice over-the-top delicious roles on "SNL." The verdict: she's hysterical.

Indeed McCarthy does something fascinating: everything coming out of her mouth is nearly always funny (to the degree of  funny is debatable), profane and rapidly paced. She is the sole reason the movie works, well, to give her co-star credit, the chemistry between her and Sandra Bullock is pretty darn good too. In a better written movie, the cliches would be sidestepped, like bonding over an absurd amount of beer or being hostages when you know they're not going to die.

The film is peppered with extraordinary comedic talent, with so many mini-stars, it almost feels like a spoiler alert telling who's in it, but I'll just say a few: Taran Killam of "SNL" fame, Michael McDonald of "SNL" ripoff "MADtv" fame, and Zach Woods of "The Office" fame all have varying tiny to large roles in the feature. The first, maybe five minutes of the comedy slugs when it's just Bullock's character, but I suppose it's meant to because her role is more or less of a foil, until the last third of the movie, where, and the pun is intended, things heat up.

This isn't a second Oscar-nominated performance for McCarthy, but the zeitgeist of "Bridesmaids" is fairly unrepeatable. With the said strong comedic talent supporting the two ladies and their crime-fighting quest, the movie chugs along quickly even at the nearly two hour time duration. A breakout is the quick moving Spoken Reasons (it's his name, I'm not questioning it), whose part was supposed to be for Kevin Hart, and you can see the motor mouthed mannerisms between them, though Reasons (?) shines on his own. Overall, seeing it on DVD or in theaters won't make a difference, just as long as you're with a big group to share in the guffaws this film solidly serves up. I can't wait to see what else McCarthy has on her plate.

Rating: 2/4 stars