I knew of the TV show 21 Jump Street, but other than someone from the police force going undercover in a high school, I knew nothing else about the plot.
Going into this movie I was wondering how Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum would work as a pair. Coming out of this movie, I’d have to say that they were a good duo! Even in the movie they were an unlikely pair – In their high school years, Jenko (CT) was the popular kid, while Schmidt (JH) wasn’t. 7 years later, with help from one another, they both make the police force and are assigned to go undercover in a re-cycled plan from the 80s called ‘21 Jump Street’ (haha). They go back to high school and this time, the tables have turned and Schmidt turns out to be the popular kid, while Jenko becomes the geek.
Although I think that Channing Tatum does an okay job with his other roles (either serious like Stop Loss, or romance, like Dear John), he doesn’t up the ante and bring anything more. With that being said, I think he really shined in this comedy; possibly because I think he did a good job with the role of a dumbass.
As for Jonah Hill, I LOVED him in Superbad and he did a solid job in Moneyball. So we know he can be funny and we know he can be serious. I think he did a great job in this movie. He is able to spit out his lines so fluently that doesn’t seem forced.
Other than Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum I think the other actors/actresses weren’t that good.
There was a perfect blend of comedy and action as well as wit and vulgarness. I got a lot more laughs than I thought I would and the laughter was well paced throughout the movie. And I also really liked how this movie poked fun at action movies, which also added to the comedy factor. The plot isn’t exactly new or original, so you kind of have an idea of where it’s going, but what keeps this movie different from the others is the dialogue. The bantering between Tatum and Hill was really well done; they both had good comedic timing. There was a slight twist at the end with a cameo that was unexpected.
Hill and Tatum are great together here and add a lot to this film’s comedy but it’s just the way it is all written that makes it even richer. It’s making fun of those high school comedy conventions but at the same time, is inventing it’s own as it goes on. Great review Sally.
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