Battle of the flicks: White House Down VS. The Heat

The Heat

Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock make one odd couple as they are forced to partner together in search of a Boston drug lord. Both with extreme personality disorders, this oil-and-water crime team makes for some wickedly funny moments that will keep you laughing from start to finish.

Director Paul Feig (Bridesmaids) and newbie screenwriter Katie Dippold bring a real-world sense of what it’s like to be a female cop, all while poking fun at it’s lead characters.

Here’s what some other women thought:

Kristin Tillotson of Minneapolis Star Tribune said, “From the moment she barrels onto the scene like a cannonball of crudity, McCarthy makes it clear that this movie is hers to make or break. And she knocks it right out of Fenway Park.”

Moira MacDonald of The Seattle Times said, “There’s a discussion to be had about why this is the only major movie this summer with two women in the lead roles — but it’s hard to have a serious discussion when you’re laughing.”

Elizabeth Weitzman of New York Daily News said, “The Heat would be a fairly ordinary entry in the female buddy cop genre except… there is no genre yet. Happily, Melissa McCarthy may single-handedly change that.

You can read my full review here.

White House Down

Action meets lots of explosions in this “president in peril” movie starring Channing Tatum and Maggie Gyllenhaal.

We’ve seen this story before (almost literally, with Olympus Has Fallen out last March), but what makes this the better of the two films is the absence of plotting North Koreans and the addition of Channing Tatum. Applause erupted from the women in the audience the moment he took off his jacket to reveal his chiseled physique.

The good news is that Tatum makes for a very convincing ex-military, single dad who has the experience and street-smarts to foil one very determined group of bad guys while saving the president, the world and his own daughter.

Here’s what some other gals thought:

Claudia Puig of USA Today said, “The chemistry of the lead actors mitigates the contrived setup and numbing explosions.”

Marjorie Baumgarten of Austin Chronicle said, “White House Down is amply endowed with enough tension, humor and calamitous action to ensure it a solid berth in the summer box-office sweepstakes.”

Mary F. Pols of TIME Magazine said, “What makes White House Down not just tolerable but frivolously entertaining is its slapstick soul.”

But you can always read my full review.