{"id":36378,"date":"2013-06-28T08:07:57","date_gmt":"2013-06-28T15:07:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/uprisingradio.org\/home\/?p=36378"},"modified":"2013-06-28T08:07:57","modified_gmt":"2013-06-28T15:07:57","slug":"rethink-reviews-the-heat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uprisingradio.org\/home\/2013\/06\/28\/rethink-reviews-the-heat\/","title":{"rendered":"ReThink Reviews: The Heat"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul class=\"inline-playlist playlist\" title=\"\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/download\/TheHeatKPFK12\/the%20Heat%20KPFK_1-2.mp3\">Listen to this segment <\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n<p><a href =\"http:\/\/www.rethinkreviews.net\"><img decoding=\"async\" align=right width=55% src=\"\/home\/graphics\/rethink_reviews_small.jpg\" alt=\"Rethink Reviews\" \/><\/a><strong>Taking a deeper look at current and past films and how they relate to the world today. <\/strong>  <\/p>\n<p><em>Jonathan Kim is an independent film critic who writes and produces film reviews for Uprising and other outlets. He is a former co-producer at Brave New Films. <\/em>  <\/p>\n<p> Read his reviews online at <a href=\"http:\/\/ReThinkReviews.net\">ReThinkReviews.net<\/a>. Watch his videos at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/jsjkim\">www.youtube.com\/user\/jsjkim<\/a>, and follow him on Twitter at <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/ReThinkReviews\">twitter.com\/ReThinkReviews<\/a>. ReThink Reviews&#8217; theme song is by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.myspace.com\/restaurantmusic\">Restavrant<\/a>.    <\/p>\n<p><strong>THE HEAT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Cop, buddy, and odd couple comedies are male-dominated genres, though not for any particularly good reason aside from outdated stereotypes that women aren\u2019t funny and don\u2019t serve in law enforcement. In that sense, \u2018The Heat\u2019 is a big deal simply for casting Sandra Bullock as an uptight FBI agent and Melissa McCarthy as a gruff Boston cop forced to work together to track down a drug kingpin. That fact alone hardly makes for a good movie, and after seeing the ads for \u2018The Heat\u2019, my expectations couldn\u2019t have been lower. Which might be part of the reason why I was nicely surprised by \u2018The Heat\u2019, first because the makers of the movie seem to have a good grasp of what equality in movies should really look like, and second because McCarthy is such a force to be reckoned with that she may very well be the most talented, bankable comedic actress (or actor) working today.<\/p>\n<p>Bullock plays Special Agent Sarah Ashburn, a by-the-books, arrogant FBI special agent working out of New York who\u2019s sent to Boston on the trail of some murders and possibly a promotion. Standing in her way is Detective Shannon Mullins (played by McCarthy), an aggressive, slovenly loose cannon who resents the FBI\u2019s and Ashburn\u2019s intrusion on her turf. Mullins and Ashburn are, of course, a classic odd couple \u2014 Ashburn is cold, professional, and relies on meticulous detective work, while Mullins is a street smart, foul-mouthed slob who gets results by busting heads.<\/p>\n<p>As you\u2019d guess, Mullins and Ashburn must find common ground to pursue a mysterious drug kingpin named Larkin who has connections to Mullins\u2019 ex-con brother Jason (played by Michael Rapaport). Performers from the improv, sketch, and comedy worlds fill out supporting roles as various agents and Mullins\u2019 clamorous Boston family. However, my favorite is Thomas F. Wilson (that\u2019s Biff from \u2018Back to the Future\u2019) as the captain of Mullins\u2019 precinct, a reminder that Wilson really deserves to be working more.<\/p>\n<p>While Bullock\u2019s nervous energy and willingness to play along elevates Ashburn to being more than just a straight man, \u2018The Heat\u2019, like the vastly inferior \u2018Identity Thief\u2019, shows that McCarthy is a unique talent who\u2019s more than capable of headlining a film that requires her to do most of the comedic heavy lifting. As in most of her roles, no matter how inconsiderate, pushy, or rude she\u2019s being, McCarthy plays it so straight and without subterfuge that she somehow comes across as someone who\u2019s simply honest and blunt to a fault, which somehow makes her more likeable, kind of like a younger Estelle Getty in \u2018The Golden Girls\u2019 but with the improv chops to keep a steady stream of laughs coming at all times. In addition, McCarthy has a vulnerability just below the surface that makes her great in more tender or dramatic moments.<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s great about \u2018The Heat\u2019 is that it seems to know what equal representation in entertainment should mean. While there are a small handful of moments that address some of the difficulties women face in law enforcement, the fact that Mullins and Ashburn are women is largely incidental to the story, where you could make those characters men without having to change much else. Equal representation shouldn\u2019t just mean more women in movies for women that are all about the characters being women, but more women in movies for everyone in roles that could be played by men or women where a character\u2019s personality and actions are way more important than their gender.  <\/p>\n<p>I think some are understandably rooting for McCarthy because her looks and weight are outside the norm for women in entertainment, which may help women who don\u2019t look like models get considered for more roles. But the reason why all of us should be rooting for McCarthy is because she\u2019s one of the funniest people out there and has that special talent \u2014 much like Dwayne \u201cthe Rock\u201d Johnson \u2014 where her presence and energy makes every movie she\u2019s in better, whether she\u2019s starring, supporting, or just appearing in a cameo. If people can get past the lame ads, I think they\u2019ll have a great time at \u2018The Heat\u2019, which should solidify McCarthy as a true top-of-the-bill movie star.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018The Heat\u2019 is rated R and opens today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Taking a deeper look at current and past films and how they relate to the world today. Jonathan Kim is an independent film critic who writes and produces film reviews for Uprising and other outlets. He is a former co-producer at Brave New Films. Read his reviews online at ReThinkReviews.net. Watch his videos at www.youtube.com\/user\/jsjkim, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rethink-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uprisingradio.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uprisingradio.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uprisingradio.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uprisingradio.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uprisingradio.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36378"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/uprisingradio.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36380,"href":"https:\/\/uprisingradio.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36378\/revisions\/36380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uprisingradio.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uprisingradio.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uprisingradio.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}