Kernel Rating (out of 5): 
MPAA Rating: R Length: 117 minutes
Age Appropriate for: 15+. The film’s R rating is mainly because of its language; the cursing is everywhere, practically in every sentence, and includes the f-word, sexually themed jokes, and that sort of thing. There’s also drinking, marijuana use, some kissing, and some violence (stabbing, shooting, and a very gross impromptu throat surgery in a restaurant). The film could work for teenagers and their parents because it is less of an exploitatively raunchy comedy than simply a well-meaning foul-mouthed one, but its laughs are frustratingly inconsistent.
‘The Heat’ is trying to do something admirable, which is do for the buddy cop genre what 2011’s ‘Bridesmaids’ did for comedy in general—provide women with a legitimate place at the table. But ‘The Heat’ just isn’t consistent enough, either in its storytelling or its humor, to mimic the success of ‘Bridesmaids.’ Simultaneously overlong and underdeveloped, ‘The Heat’ fails to reach a boiling point.
By Roxana Hadadi
We shouldn’t have to prove that women are funny; we are funny. 2011’s “Bridesmaids” showed off what people should already know after years of watching “Saturday Night Live” or “30 Rock” or any other comedy involving women. So with all that in mind, there’s something bizarre about “The Heat” from director Paul Feig, who also directed “Bridesmaids.” The movie assumes that we know women are funny but forgets that believable characters, motivations, and plots are necessary, too. We can believe that women are funny, but that doesn’t make “The Heat” funny.
