Bobby Movie Review: "21 Jump Street"

21 Jump Street

What is it about?

Like the TV series in the 1980's, two young-looking cops are sent undercover into a high school as students to break up a drug ring.

How are the top performances?

JONAH HILL as Schmidt

I've always said that you're in rock-solid hands with Jonah Hill.  He really never steers you wrong. (No, I've never seen the widely and poorly reviewed The Sitter) What's most encouraging about this performance is that he is relatively thin (compared to looking like a fucking HOUSE in Get Him To the Greek) and proves that his weight isn't a crutch. He just looks hilarious when he's fat and up to goofy antics, and even with that taken away, he is still funny as ever and throwing out hysterical one-liners. I've never once seen a Jonah Hill performance that didn't crack me up, even in a minor role.

CHANNING TATUM as Jenko

Now, nobody should be surprised for a second that Jonah Hill is hilarious. What should absolutely blow you away is that Channing Tatum is legitimately funny. Channing Tatum, in my opinion, was one of the four or five least talented people who ever lived, somewhere in between Mayim Bialyk and one of the Milli Vanilli guys. He's unfairly handsome, built like a pro wrestler and delivers wooden, banal dialogue in shitty movies like The Vow and Dear John. But here he is, going toe-to-toe with a hysterical comic and nearly stealing the show. I'm going to stop short of calling this the most surprising comic performance of all-time (that still goes, without question, to Jeff Daniels in Dumb & Dumber), but the fact that we're even having this conversation is pretty damn impressive. He goes for it and doesn't hold back. Isn't afraid to look bad. Isn't afraid to mess up his perfect image with teen girls. Isn't afraid to drop F-bombs. Let it be known, March of 2012, Bobby was wrong. Channing Tatum has a future in film.

What's any good about it?

The smartest part of the film is that the filmmakers recognized instantly that nobody gave a shit to see a 21 Jump Street remake. So what they did was basically take the SHELL of the 21 Jump Street idea and throw in a real modern comedy around it. Also wonderfully self-aware is the speech by one of the police captains where he talks about how their unit is "recycling old crap from years ago and presenting it as something new because we've run out of ideas" (paraphrasing).

Hill and Tatum really do play off each other well and are both extremely likable. Without both of them on top of their games, this doesn't work.

The juxtaposition of Hill being a geek in high school while Tatum was the cool ladies man getting switched around in the new, "progressive" high school is also enjoyable as Hill gets to see what being popular is like and Tatum hangs out with all the chemistry geeks.

With trying to spoil as little as I can, those who have seen it will love:

"Fuck you science!"

"You DO have the right to be an attorney."

The drug freak-outs.

The celebrity cameo.

"Dear Korean Jesus..."

And of course, the non-explosions on the highway leading to a great result.

Do you have any complaints, you whiny bitch who complains about everything?

No, not YET. Here's the problem. I saw this movie in a sold-out theater surrounded by people laughing out loud. I'm not a robot. It's hard not to enjoy yourself with everyone else having a great time. I'm very curious how this holds up on Blu Ray in a few months by myself.

Best Scene

I wouldn't dare give this away, but I can't remember laughing harder in a long time than when Jonah Hill imitates the black chick at the police department. Wow, that was funny.

Final Thoughts

Granted, I haven't seen a movie helped out by unbelievably low expectations since Rocky Balboa. However, the movie delivers legitimate laughs from beginning to end and capitalizes on an unlikely comedy team. Channing Tatum doesn't just stay out of Jonah Hill's way, but he is more than willing to shoulder his share of the load and surprisingly comes through. Big recommendation for one of the funniest movies I've seen in years.

Bobby Grade: A-

Great Quote

"They let you pick any name you want when you get down there."

"And you somehow landed on McLovin?!"

"Yeah, it was between either that or Mohammad."

"Why the fuck is it between that or Mohammad?!"

---Fogel & Seth (Christopher Mintz-Plasse & Jonah Hill), Superbad