Why I Saw It: Take two helping of Bridesmaids. Add a dash of Miss Congeniality. Stir in a pot filled with "hey, it's that guy".
Cast: McCarthy and Bullock are both immensely likable actresses who have both had success in comedies before this. That's where the similarities end. Bullock is built as the straight-woman and gets most of her laughs through physical comedy and reactions. McCarthy is a force of nature. She riffs with the best of them and commands attention in any scene (it's an amazing transformation from Sookie in Gilmore Girls, which was a great character in her own right). In short, they contrast well, although if you don't like one of them, the other won't save that. The rest of the cast is filled with "get that guy from that TV show" actors that you come to expect from comedies like that, and they all serve their purpose, which I say as a positive.
Plot: Do you like buddy comedies? Do you really like it when they don't get along at first? Do you enjoy when they don't bother to water it down to PG-13? I thought so. This movie doesn't try to do much else nor does it need to. The whole time I watched this I couldn't help but notice the difference in how well McCarthy is used in this vs. Identity Thief. She was used much better in this. Basically, it establishes why we like her early on and that is amplified by how likable McCarthy is as a performer (as opposed to Identity Thief, which relied on McCarthy to bring likability to an unlikeable character). Really, other than saying that they didn't mess it up, I can't say much about the plot because it is intentionally by the book.
Elephant in the Room: You see, they're cops...and they're women. Ok, ok. I haven't heard a single bit of press focusing on it being female leads as though it was remarkable (something which irritated the fuck out of me with Bridesmaids). Maybe because these are two established female comedy leads, but I haven't had to listen to an endless chorus of people being amazed that women are funny. Just as refreshing is that this comes across in the movie as well. With slight tweaks, these characters could be played by anyone. There isn't some stupid story shoehorned in about the other cops or agents not liking Bullock or McCarthy because they are women. There's plenty of other reasons to not like them. It's nice to see that.
To Sum Things Up:
This movie is not without it's faults. The plot is probably too loose for it's own good. There's an extreme imbalance in the buddy and cop formula (90-10, sounds about right). For my money, I'd pick This Is The End over it. Still, it is funny and fairly consistently so and serves as a great break from all the $100-million action movies that fill the summer landscape.
Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend
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