21
Jump Street
I am
ashamed at how much
I laughed at this movie.
Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum star as Schmidt and Jenko - two former
high school acquaintances (OK, Jenko used to pick on Schmidt, alot) who
end up together at the police academy seven years later. Schmidt is the
brains and Jenko is the brawn, so they partner up, but each one lacks
the maturity and ability the job requires. Because of this, and an
arrest gone horribly bad, the two are assigned to 21 Jump Street - an
undercover group of youthful cops who work as narcs at local high
schools.
 Can Jenko and Schmidt find and bust
whoever is dealing a new synthetic
drug to kids?
Don't worry if you never saw the original 21
Jump Street with
Johnny Depp (or you weren't even born when it was on TV back in the
ancient 80's). This 21 Jump
Street makes some allusions to
the
first one, but forges its own path.
While the movie can be quite juvenile (which will make you laugh from
time to time, and feel ashamed each time), 21
Jump Street is
best when it is a cop movie parody.
Ice Cube is the most hilarious angry police captain you have ever seen
by underplaying the cliché just enough to make you laugh,
while
also making the character a bit more real. His performance, combined
with some strong dialogue from writer Michael Bacall, becomes anything
but cliché.
Tatum gets strong laughs as the guy who has been cool all of his life
suddenly finding himself as one of the school's outcastes. As I have
mentioned, Tatum is growing on me as an actor (notice how I haven't
mentioned the Abs
of Steel
yet?). He has a great comedic, deadpan
delivery he infuses with a bit of moron that had me doubled over in
laughter more than once.
Make no mistake about it. Tatum is not a moron. The moron is the person
who underestimates this rising star.
Explosions, car chases, interactions with perps and more are skewered
the right way. Not only do directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, along
with the entire cast, make the most of those moments we have seen too
many times, they fill 21 Jump Street with a welcome exuberance.
21
Jump Street is rated R for crude and sexual
content, pervasive language, drug material, teen drinking and some
violence
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