The Heat (2013)
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An FBI agent and a hot-headed Boston detective must overcome their clashing personalities to take down a dangerous mobster.
The story
FBI Special Agent Sarah Ashburn, a professional investigator from New York City, is assigned a mission in Boston where she must team up with Boston Police Department Detective Shannon Mullins. The two women have vastly different approaches to police work; Ashburn is level-headed and professional, while Mullins is hot-headed and boorish. Despite their immediate friction and clashing personalities, they are forced to work together to investigate a drug lord named Simon Larkin. Their investigation leads them to a nightclub, a family home, and a murder scene, forcing the reluctant partners to navigate both criminal underworlds and their own personal tensions.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
FBI Special Agent Sarah Ashburn is assigned to Boston to take down drug lord Simon Larkin. She is paired with Detective Shannon Mullins, whose boorish and hot-headed style clashes with Ashburn's professionalism. After bugging a nightclub and discovering a connection between Mullins' brother, Jason, and Larkin, the women find a murder scene at an abandoned factory where they apprehend Larkin's second-in-command, Julian Vincent. During the investigation, Ashburn reveals her history as a foster child, and the women bond over their experiences. The stakes rise when Julian escapes and threatens Mullins' family, and Jason is shot by Larkin, leaving him comatose. The women eventually infiltrate a warehouse but are captured. Julian stabs Ashburn in the leg, but Mullins manages to free them when a DEA agent, who is revealed to be Larkin in disguise, enters. In a final confrontation, Mullins and Ashburn defeat Julian and rescue Jason from the hospital. Ashburn decides to stay in Boston, and the two women form a lasting bond.
- First release year
- 2013
- Runtime (minutes)
- 117
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Paul Feig
- Writers
- Katie Dippold · writer
- Cast and characters
- Sandra Bullock · Sarah Ashburn; Melissa McCarthy · Shannon Mullins; Demián Bichir; Marlon Wayans; Michael Rapaport; Jane Curtin
- Genres
- action comedy; buddy comedy; crime comedy; action thriller; crime thriller
- Themes
- female friendship; workplace dynamics; professionalism vs. impulsivity
- Tone and mood
- action-comedy; snarly; confessional
- Premise and plot tags
- buddy cop; female-led; crime; comedy
- Reception
- The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics and was a success at the box office, grossing $229 million worldwide against a $43 million budget.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 66% · review count: 183; Metacritic · score: 60 · scale: 100 · review count: 37
- Production trivia
- The film was originally called 'The Untitled Female Buddy Cop Comedy' during production.; The script was written as a spec script while Katie Dippold was fulfilling writing duties on 'Parks and Recreation'.; The film was originally intended to be released on April 5, 2013, but was pushed back to June 28, 2013.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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