A brittle but brilliant FBI agent is thr𝓰own together with a boorish, foul-mouthed street cop to bring down a ruthless drug lord. After initially clashing, the mismꦛatched pair begin to develo🐼p a mutual respect and, ultimately, a friendship. Sound familiar?

You bet it does – so far, so , so , so Dragnet...

Yet this time round, it’s the girls’ turn to step onto the ever-revolving buddy-cop merry-go-round and far be it for Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy to deviate from the formula one iota.

So, with expectations of originality flung from the window of a speeding car, it’s down to the two leads to charm their way through the clichés. They half ℱmanage it.

McCarthy, as slobbish policewoman Shannon Mullins, is a riot. Dragging bad guys from their cars while dressed like a refugee from the Grateful Dead and swearing like a Scorsese boxset, she gives the character shadings that might have disappeared in less skillful hands – especially when dealing with her stereotypically shrill, Bostonian Irish family, who seem to be auditioning for a remake of .

Sadly, the same can’t be said for Bullock, whose uptight agent Sarah Ashburn is a one-dimensional charac𝐆ter the star struggles🍸 to enliven.

The Heat is director Paul Feig’s first outing since , a film that here casts a huge, hilarious shadow.

Though there are brief flashes of the previous magic – especially in a scene where the pair bond by getting messily, black-out drunk – The Heat can’t keep pace with its predecessor’s la෴ugh-rate.

But where it does live up to Bridesmaids’ towering standards is in its realistic sense of 🦹a bumpily blo🌼ssoming friendship.

It’s to Feig and writer Katie Dippold’s credit that there are no love interests acting as third wheels, allowing Mullins and Ashburn’s wo🦹mance to evolve alongside the action.

It’s just a shame it does s🍨o without a few more giggles and a load mo𝕴re surprises.

Verdict:

Following the buddy-cop handbook to the letter, The Heat is derivative stuff, but McCarthy gives it the kick it needs to keep rolling along.