"“Although not quite reaching the heights of what has come before for Paul Feig, there remains much to be admired...”"

Following on from the huge – and somewhat surprising – triumph of Bridesmaids, there is now a real sense of pressure placed upon the shoulders of director Paul Feig as to what he can conjure up next. Though certainly offering a less consistently funny feature than his preceding production, The Heat remains an enjoyable and extravagant comedy of two police officers unwittingly brought together. Basically, it’s a female equivalent of The Other Guys.

Vying for a promotion, FBI Special Agent Ashburn (Sandra Bullock) is sent out to Boston, desperate to impress her boss and take down a long-term target and notorious drug lord. However she is paired with her polar opposite, in the foul-mouthed, aggressive local cop Mullins (Melissa McCarthy). With two immensely differing approaches to the task at hand – with Ashburn strictly abiding by the rules and Mullins doing whatever the hell she wants, the pair are going to need to find a compatible way to work together in order to bring down the desired target once and for all.

In a similar vein to Bridesmaids, Feig has demonstrated a remarkable ability in taking women’s ‘stereotypical’ personality traits and using them as a source of comedy without ever feeling offensive or as though mimicking. He manages to portray situations sincerely and play up to them in such an exaggerated manner, that it deems the situation almost surreal and takes the sting away from it; such as when the pair are on the verge of interrogating a key suspect, and then start bickering about their hair bands. In many circumstances this could be seen as insulting, but he treads that line masterfully.

The laughter in The Heat, however, is not nearly consistent enough, as so much of the comedy is reliant on McCarthy that we are lacking any substantial supporting roles – which Bridesmaids had in abundance (McCarthy being one of them herself, of course). That said, there is no denying the actress can lead a film, and although she is effectively recreating the same role she portrayed in Idenitity Thief – that of a barbaric brute with a heart of gold – it’s one she does very well, as she has a great balance between being a hard as nails bully on the surface, and yet is really a vulnerable loner on the inside.

Unfortunately though, neither of our two protagonists are particularly likeable, and though we grow to them as we progress throughout the film, you can’t help but feel that at least one of them needs to be sympathetic early on to draw us in, and instead Feig really makes his audience work hard to feel such an emotion. The pairing works well though, in what is a very conventional comedy double act. One straight-laced and one entirely unreliable and unpredictable, and yet you seen realise they’re both actually as mad and flawed as the other, such as Father Ted and Dougal, or Laurel and Hardy for instance.

With various moments of chuckling and the occasion gag that has you in stitches, The Heat is a worthy comedy offering, and although not quite reaching the heights of what has come before for Feig, there remains much to be admired. However on the whole it’s somewhat substandard, and you can see the jokes happening a mile away, with the ever unfortunate ability of guessing the punch-line before the joke has even begun. Though easy and accessible in that regard, sometimes that’s not such a bad thing, as comedies like this can often be exactly what the doctor ordered.