21 Jump Street review

Things have changed since I graduated from high school in 2004. Having now worked a number of years in retail and always having my finger tightly pressed against the cultural pulse, I have noticed the subtle differences in today’s youth verses my teenage experience. Back in those days I was active in the art club,I worked as the entertainment editor of the school newspaper, and I rubbed elbows with drama department. Basically, I was nerd before it was cool.  Divisions between class, race, religion and lifestyles were always clear, and if they were not enforced by the students than they were at least implied. However today, with the rise of the internet, with tolerance and diversity made marketable and the hipster culture coopting nerdiness as a fashion choice, it has become a whole new world out there. This seems to be the driving interest for “21 Jump Street”, a raunchy bromantic action-comedy, based on late 80s television series that launched Johnny Depp into stardom.

The film stars Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill, who play Shmidt and Jenko, two kids who didn’t get to go to their prom. Jenko (Tatum) was refused because of his bad grades and Shmidt (Hill) because he could find anyone who wanted to go with him. Later, though being enemies in high school, the two find themselves training together in the police academy and quickly become friends. After they botch a simple drug detainment they are both sent on a secret mission where they are put back to high school to gather evidence on a dangerous new drug that’s been making its rounds among the local teens. While working undercover as students they form new friends and allegiances. Soon they both realize that the newer generation’s politics have turned the tables on the jocks, leaving Jonah Hill’s character with the social advantage over the jock-ish Tatum.

There are a few reasons why “21 Jump Street” works. First of all it doesn’t bother to connect too much with the original source material of the old TV series. The plot follows the same conceit and shares the title obviously, but pretty quickly the movie becomes something of its own with an entirely different kind of appeal. It knows how poke fun at itself and breaks the fourth wall without becoming annoyingly self-aware or trying too hard to be hipper than the audience. The writer Michael Becall and directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller should be commended for rescuing this project that was probably conceived as a lazy marketing strategy (a funny bit of dialogue from the film even suggests this). What could have so easily just been studio-product was turned into a funny self-mocking satire with some interesting things to say.

Secondly, the performances by both Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum are great. They have genuine comedic chemistry and their characters both have a clear motivation and arc within the plot. Having not always been a supporter, Tatum in particular has been surprising me more and more as he has grows as an actor. After almost rescuing the confused Ron Howard film “The Dilemma” and keeping me laughing in this, it would seem that he has a unique comedic talent, especially when he lampoons the thickheaded/bighearted characters he began his acting career with. The side performances by Rob Riggle as the over excited coach, Ice Cube as the “angry black cop”, and Ellie Kemper as the horny chemistry teacher, are all chuckle-worthy as well.

My only beef with “21 Jump Street” is that once the third act begins and the plot has to be resolved, the movie begins to shift gears from socially conscious humor to broader slapstick humor based in elaborate action set-pieces. Some twists in the plot don’t pay off as much as the writers think they do and as I watched shoot-outs and explosions dominate the latter half of the film a good 12-15 minutes went by without a laugh. This unfortunately has been a common misstep in over-budgeted comedies.

So considering this franchise was neither required nor demanded to be made into a comedic reboot, the movie should make you laugh enough to feel like you spent your money wisely. If you’re like me and you feel a growing cultural disconnect with the kids who have been raised on iphones and vegan diets in their cafeteria, then you might even find a little insight and honesty behind the laughs. “21 Jump Street” delivers whether you went to school as a nerd or a jock. 

Grade: B

Originally published in The Basic Alternative/ April-2012