The Heat is a 2013 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Paul Feig and written by Katie Dippold.

It stars Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy, with Demián Bichir, Marlon Wayans, Michael Rapaport, and Jane Curtin in supporting roles.

FBI Special Agent Sarah Ashburn is an expert federal criminal investigator in New York City.

Ashburn and Mullins tail a nightclub manager to his business, Club Ekko, and place a bug on his phone to get information on drug lord Simon Larkin.

Leaving the club, Ashburn and Mullins are confronted by DEA Special Agents Craig and Adam, who have been working the Larkin case for months.

Chemicals on the victim's shoes lead the women to an abandoned paint factory, where they witness a drug dealer being murdered by Julian Vincent, second-in-command of Larkin's organization.

The women equip themselves with assault weapons from Mullins's personal arsenal, and infiltrate one of Larkin's warehouses, but are captured and bound.

Before she can cut the rope around her feet, they hear someone coming and Mullins puts the knife back in Ashburn's leg.

Ashburn requests to stay in the FBI's Boston field office, and has developed a strong friendship with Mullins.

[4] Dippold wrote the spec script on the side while fulfilling writing duties on Parks and Recreation and, ultimately, it sold to producer Peter Chernin for $600,000 prior to even being presented to prospective bidders.

"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.

On May 19, 2012, director Paul Feig and actresses Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy signed on to the film, after previously struggling to close deals due to scheduling and payment conflicts.

[11] The soundtrack is composed by Michael Andrews who previously scored Feig's Bridesmaids and Unaccompanied Minors (2006).

[14] 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.

The Blu-ray features 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.

[3] Deadline Hollywood calculated the film made a net profit of $61.8 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues.

The website's critical consensus reads: "The Heat is predictable, but Melissa McCarthy is reliably funny and Sandra Bullock proves a capable foil.

Critic Christy Lemire wrote: “the first produced script from Katie Dippold gives her a smart, inspired and wickedly funny foundation from which to work, and she and Bullock enjoy gangbusters chemistry with each other.”[25] Wesley Morris wrote in Grantland: “My skepticism going in had to do with The Heat being a movie with two female characters that easily could have been played by a pair of men.

This is generic genre stuff with a realish female friendship at its center: It’s a bra-mance.”[26] Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a grade of B and wrote: “The director, Paul Feig, possesses a highly developed radar for the alternating currents of competition and camaraderie in female relationships.

In The Heat, Feig stages scenes like Richard Donner (Lethal Weapon) with a touch of George Cukor (The Women).

"[28] In another mixed review, Keith Uhlich of Time Out said Bullock and McCarthy deserved better material, and also criticized the trailer for giving the impression that this was a less funny film.