A Forgotten Sandra Bullock Movie Is Suddenly Popular On Free Streaming
A Sandra Bullock comedy that you might have forgotten about is currently crushing on free streaming and it's worth a watch
This article is more than 2 years old
Sandra Bullock began her career showing she was able to hold her own on the big screen in larger action movies as well as thrillers, bringing on something of an “everywoman” vibe with a quiet confidence that shown through even in cinematically-created harrowing situations. And she’s been able to maintain that over the last couple of decades without much of an issue.
But there’s also been a later career shift for Sandra Bullock into some more comedic roles, something she’ll be doing once again in an upcoming flick. In the meantime, one of her comedy movies is also starting to climb the free streaming charts right now, and it might be one you’ve forgotten about. The Heat is currently in the Top-10 on IMDb’s rankings and might be worth revisiting.
The Heat follows Sandra Bullock as Sarah Ashburn, an FBI agent who begins the movie predictably uptight around her job and career, leading to other agents resenting and just flat-out ignoring her. She’s sent on a special assignment to Boston to help with a drug investigation and there she meets Shannon Mullins played by Melissa McCarthy. So begins your prototypical buddy cop film with the two coming off as complete opposites in the most obviously comedic ways. Bullock’s Ashburn is straightlaced and by-the-books. Mullins is anything but, hard-charging and foul-mouthed. It’s meant to offer a comedic juxtaposition we see all the time in flicks like this. Check out the trailer for The Heat.
The opposites attract method is going in this one with Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy clearly at odds in approach around their police work when they first have to start solving crime together. That’s meant to be the core of the joke-making, right? How much more different could these two gals be in terms of looks, style, approach, language, and really anything the writers could come up with in the script.
That’s pretty much a hallmark for comedies of this ilk. Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy mostly pull off the expectation even if this isn’t one of your great comedies of all time. That they act as each other’s foils means the writers can mine a decent amount of laughs just because both light it up on-screen. And the chemistry does play.
In addition to Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy, The Heat does feature a few other notables who are along for the comedic ride. Demian Bichir, Marlon Wayans, Michael Rapaport, Jane Curtain, Bill Burr, Kaitlin Olsen, Tony Hale, and Zach Woods all make appearances, lending a strong comedic cast behind the leads. Plus, the movie is directed by Paul Feig who’s worked for a while with Melissa McCarthy on other flicks like Bridesmaids, Spy, and Ghostbusters.
The Heat was mostly well-received by critics, sitting at 66% on Rotten Tomatoes and 60% on Metacritic. While those scores would seem to come off on the low side of things, for this kind of comedy they are actually decent. It isn’t hard for a buddy cop movie to go completely off the rails and paint things strictly by the numbers. The Heat is predictable, but it works because Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy almost will it to be with their respective performances and the combined effort of their oppositeness ending up almost more than the sum of the parts. At the box office, it was a success as well, earning $230 million on its $43 million budget.
In all, it’s kind of easy to see why The Heat would be finding some streaming success even almost a decade after it first hit the big screen. There’s enough levity to keep people engaged, and the star power of Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy is good to bring folks in the first place. The pairing worked then and it’s clearly working now years later.
As for Sandra Bullock, she’s set to star in The Lost City, another comedy though this one with a completely different story. In it, she plays Loretta Sage, a schlocky romance novelist who is taken hostage along with her hunky, though dimwitted long-time cover model Alan, played by Channing Tatum. It sets off a ridiculous romp through the jungle, seemingly comedic and over-the-top at every turn. Brad Pitt and Daniel Radcliffe also have major roles. The Lost City is set to hit theaters in the United States on March 25th. In the meantime, check out The Heat on free streaming.
