The Heat Information

The Heat is a 2013 American action comedy film written by Katie Dippold and directed by Paul Feig. The plot centers on Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy as FBI Special Agent Sarah Ashburn and Boston Detective Shannon Mullins, who must take down a mobster. The film was released in the United States and Canada on June 28, 2013 to both critical and commercial success.

Plot

FBI Special Agent Sarah Ashburn is a very skilled and effective investigator, but is despised by her fellow agents for her arrogance and condescending attitude. Hale, Ashburn's boss at the New York FBI field office who is being promoted, sends her to Boston to investigate a drug kingpin named Larkin with the promise that she would be considered as his replacement if she can solve the case while showing the ability to work effectively with others. Once in Boston, she is partnered with Shannon Mullins, a skilled but foulmouthed and rebellious police officer with the Boston Police Department. Ashburn's by-the-book philosophy clashes with Mullins' rugged and violent style of police work. Mullins discovers the details of the Larkin case by stealing the case file from Ashburn and insists on helping her. Ashburn reluctantly agrees, realizing that she needs Mullins' knowledge of the local area.

Ashburn and Mullins follow leads to a local night club owner and successfully place a bug on his cell phone. As they leave the club, Ashburn and Mullins are confronted by two DEA agents, Craig and Adam, who have been working the Larkin case for several months and are worried that their case will be compromised. After viewing him on a screen in the DEA agents' surveillance van, Ashburn discovers that Mullins' brother, Jason, was recently released from prison, having been put there by Mullins herself, and may be connected to Larkin's organization. Ashburn convinces Mullins to go to her parents' home to ask Jason for information on Larkin. On their arrival at the home, it becomes apparent that Mullins' parents and two other brothers still harbor deep resentment for Mullins' involvement in Jason's incarceration. Jason, who does not have any ill feelings toward his sister, tips her off about the body of a murdered drug dealer hidden in an abandoned car. Upon examination of the body, chemicals on the victim's shoes lead Ashburn and Mullins to an abandoned paint factory, where they witness a drug dealer being murdered by a member of Larkin's organization named Julian. The two apprehend Julian and interrogate him regarding Larkin, but are unable to extract any substantial information regarding Larkin's whereabouts.

The pair spends the evening in a bar bonding over several rounds of drinks. After a night of raucous drinking and partying, Ashburn wakes up the following morning to discover that, in her drunkenness, she has given her car keys to one of the bar patrons. After unsuccessfully pleading for the keys, Ashburn watches, along with Mullins, as the car explodes upon being started, having been fitted with a bomb. During the investigation of the explosion, the two discover that Julian has escaped from custody and may mean to harm Mullins' family. Mullins moves the family into a motel, but learns that Jason has joined with the Larkin organization in an attempt to aid the case. Jason gives her a tip about a drug shipment coming in to Boston Harbor. The FBI sets up a sting at the harbor to take down the shipment, but discovers that the ship they have been waiting for is actually only a pleasure cruise ship and Jason has been set up by Larkin. Knowing that he informed the FBI about the supposed drug shipment, Larkin attempts to have Jason killed, but only puts him into a coma.

Mullins vows to bring her brother's attacker to justice. Ashburn and Mullins learn of a warehouse where Larkin houses his operations. After equipping themselves with assault equipment from Mullins' extensive personal arsenal, the two infiltrate the warehouse. Despite taking out several of Larkin's men with a hand grenade, the two women are captured and bound by Julian, who threatens to torture them with knives. Julian is called away by Larkin, but before he leaves the room, he stabs Ashburn in the leg with one of the knives. Mullins removes the knife from Ashburn's leg and uses it to cut the rope binding her hands. Before she can finish freeing herself and Ashburn, they are discovered by Craig and Adam. Craig begins to untie the two women, but is shot and killed by Adam. Ashburn and Mullins deduce that Adam is actually Larkin, having been working his own case from inside the DEA for several months. Julian reenters and is instructed by Larkin to kill Ashburn and Mullins while he goes to the hospital to kill Jason. After Larkin leaves, Mullins, whose hands have already been untied, manages to finish freeing herself and Ashburn incapacitates Julian with a head butt. Mullins then frees Ashburn and the two race to the hospital to save Jason.

Upon their arrival, Mullins rushes to find Jason. Ashburn, hindered by the stab wound in her leg, is unable to move quickly. Mullins finds Jason's room, only to discover Larkin standing over his bed with a syringe, intending to kill Jason by injecting air into his vein, causing his death by an air embolism. Mullins drops her weapon in an attempt to save her brother's life. Ashburn, having had to crawl to the room, then enters and subdues Larkin by shooting him in the genitals. With Larkin captured, Ashburn requests to stay in the FBI's Boston field office, having developed a strong friendship with Mullins. Jason is shown having fully recovered from his coma. The film ends with Mullins receiving a commendation from the Boston Police Department, with her family present cheering for her, having reconciled with her.

Afterwards, following a misunderstanding earlier in the film, Mullins brings Ashburn her neighbor's cat, after believing that it was hers from a picture in her house.

Cast

• Sandra Bullock as FBI Special Agent Sarah Ashburn
• Melissa McCarthy as Detective Shannon Mullins
• Demián Bichir as Hale
• Marlon Wayans as Levy
• Michael Rapaport as Jason Mullins
• Jane Curtin as Mrs. Mullins
• Dan Bakkedahl as DEA Agent Craig
• Taran Killam as Adam Larkin
• Michael McDonald as Julian
• Tom Wilson as Captain Woods
• Tony Hale as The John
• Nathan Corddry as Michael Mullins
• Kaitlin Olson as Tatiana
• Bill Burr as Mark Mullins
• Andy Buckley as Robin
• Lance Norris as Scruffy bar patron
• Ben Falcone as Blue-collar man
• Jamie Denbo as Beth
• Jessica Chaffin as Gina
• Steve Bannos as Wayne
• Raw Leiba as Paint factory henchman
• Joey McIntyre as Peter Mullins
• Paul Feig as Doctor
• John Ross Bowie as FBI officer

Production

The Heat is screenwriter Katie Dippold's feature film debut. Dippold wrote the spec script on the side while fulfilling writing duties on Parks and Recreation and ultimately sold it to producer Peter Chernin for $600,000 prior to even being presented to prospective bidders. Inspired by the buddy cop film genre, primarily examples such as Running Scared (1986) and Lethal Weapon (1987), Dippold set out to write a film in which the leads were portrayed by women. As Dippold explains, "[In] Running Scared, they go down to the Caribbean and there's this montage of them on scooters, and there's a different hot girl on the back every time it cuts back to the scooter. And it just felt like, I don't want to be the girl on the back of the scooter. I want to be the awesome cop doing this stuff."

Despite the success of Bridesmaids (2011), studio executives were still uncertain of an action film with a female-led cast. "There were people suspicious of this attempt, who thought girls won't want to see a cop action movie and guys won't want to see two girls holding guns and we'd cancel out our potential audience," said producer Jenno Topping. "But we really believed, at the end of the day, it wouldn't be about gender as much as it would be about delivering a courageous action comedy with some heart to it."

On May 19, 2012, director Paul Feig and actors Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy signed on to the film after previously struggling to close deals due to scheduling and payment conflicts. At this time, the film was called The Untitled Female Buddy Cop Comedy.

Principal photography for The Heat began on July 5, 2012 at Dudley Square in Boston, Massachusetts.

Music

On October 10, 2012, it was announced that composer Michael Andrews would be composing the score to The Heat, having previously scored Feig's Bridesmaids and Unaccompanied Minors (2006). A soundtrack album containing songs featured in the film was released on June 25, 2013 by Lakeshore Records. Of these songs, the album includes a brand new track entitled "Rock This" by Santigold. Describing why he chose the songs featured in the film, Feig said, "My favorite part of filmmaking is finding the perfect music to complement what's happening on screen. And I wanted The Heat to feel like a party. I wanted the audience to have fun. And since I have to watch a movie hundreds of times as I'm making it, I wanted to use music that I wouldn't get tired of. Every song in this film is a desert island song for me. I will never get sick of them."

Release and reception

While originally intended to be released on April 5, 2013, Fox pushed back the release date to June 28, 2013. The film held its world premiere in New York City on June 23, 2013.

Box office

The Heat earned $39,115,043 in North American markets during its opening weekend. As of September 15, the film has grossed $158,015,132 in the domestic market and $60,515,000 internationally for a worldwide total of $218,530,132. The Heat was a box office success (from an estimated $43 million budget) and was also currently 2013's highest-grossing comedy until We're the Millers topped it with $222,676,000.

Critical response

The film has received positive to mixed reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 65% based on reviews from 157 reviews. The site's consensus is: "The Heat is predictable, but Melissa McCarthy is reliably funny and Sandra Bullock proves a capable foil." Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, gives the film a score of 60 out of 100 based on 37 reviews, signifying mixed or favorable critiques.

Home media

The Heat will be released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on October 15, 2013. The Blu-ray will feature an unrated version of the film, along with several audio commentaries: one with McCarthy and director Feig; one with the actors who portray the Mullins family; and one with the original Mystery Science Theater 3000 crew.