Review - 21 Jump Street

You CAN Go Back To School

In the late 80’s, 21 Jump Street became a staple on the fledgling FOX Network. It appealed to a youthful audience with its cast that included Johnny Depp, Peter Deluise, Richard Grieco, Dustin Nguyen and the then Holly Robinson among others. It dealt with serious issues that confronted our teens in serious ways. A task force of youthful faces became high school students to deal with all the problems the that police could. Now fast forward and we are doing it again – this time the “fresh, young” faces are Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum. And this time – it’s a serious topic…dealt with in humorous tones.

In Theaters 3/16/12

Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko(Channing Tatum) have know each other since high school. At that time, Jenko was the hip and cool jock while Schmidt just went through the days trying not to get a swirly. They never would have hung together in high school, but in the police academy they realize that as a team they have all that is needed to become a cop.

When their first assignment blows up in their face, they are sent to a program that is being dusted off to get to the bottom of the crime in their schools. They are sent to Jump Street.

Captain Dickson (Ice Cube) gets at the crew right away, letting them now who is in charge and who they’ll be taking orders from all while delivering the message in a, louder than normal tone. It’s back to Sagan High for the two new friends.

Back at school, Jenko realizes the new code around the place makes Schmidt cool and he’s on the outside. It’s a new role that will add to the fun. Their mission – find the suppliers of a new synthetic drug that is taking the school by storm. Can they do it? Will they fit in? Just how will these “new” students fit back in to high school?

I admit, I was skeptical going into this film. I was at that perfect age when the tv show graced the air waves and fondly look back at the show. After seeing the film, I think they did a wonderful job of saving the heart of the show all while making me laugh out loud.

Tatum and Hill prove to be perfectly matched in this story and know how to elicit laughs a plenty from the crowd. High school proves to be fertile ground for irreverence on every topic from teen dating, to the “new” high school student, to the traditional old standbys. And they are careful to indicate some real important lines that can’t be crossed.

Ice Cube shines as the Captain in a role that has him yelling and boiling things down as simple as he can make it for the youthful squad.

Where this film goes right is when they make it an R rated film. There is no scaling back on the adult humor here that usually is prevelant in this type of youth focused movie. It harkens back to a day when we made the movie, without worrying about what it was rated and let the chips fall where they may.

I loved my journey back to high school. I loved Tatum and Hill. I love to laugh. And I loved 21 Jump Street.

PS – At least 3 of the former Jump Street cast show up in the film.

PPS – Did I tell you I laughed, out loud?

PPPS – Can’t wait until the extended scenes that show on BluRay – I know they must be there.

PPPPS – Did you know when I was in school – we always used a lot of PS’s because we could never finish our notes?

B+

21 Jump Street

Columbia Pictures - MGM

Director: Phil Lord, Chris Miller

Cast: Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Brie Larson, Dave Franco, Rob Riggle, Ice Cube

Rating: R for crude and sexual content, pervasive language, drug material, teen drinking and some violence.

Runtime: 1 hour 49 minutes