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Phil Lord & Cristopher Miller
March 6, 2012
Police officers Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) utilize their youth to pass as high school students when they join the covert Jump Street team. They abandon their weapons and identification in favor of backpacks as they head out to bust a violent drug cartel. Schmidt and Jenko eventually learn that high school is very different now than it was a few years ago, and they also find themselves having to deal with the teen worry and fear they thought they had left behind.
Hill, who recently received an Oscar nod for the film Moneyball, has a talent for making crude humor appear natural. However, if we’re being completely honest, what he does here goes beyond your typical pottymouth comedy. In 21 Jump Street, Hill, who also co-wrote the script, demonstrates his mastery of identifying a character’s nuances. We already know that Hill’s Schmidt is funny, but he’s also tremendously nice and incredibly likeable. Heck, that’s the main reason we continue to attend Jonah Hill movies. Hill has a remarkable talent for developing characters who are simultaneously hilarious and remarkably real.
The movie has a ton of cameos that can very well make you smile, and Ice Cube portrays your typical hard-ass police captain. Holly Peete, a member of the original cast, perhaps had the best cameo. You won’t likely be let down by the others, though.
Even though the film itself isn’t close to being a masterpiece, if you can embrace the ridiculousness of it all, you will still enjoy 21 Jump Street. Sometimes you go to the movies just to laugh yourself silly, and 21 Jump Street provides the ideal setting for that.
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