Movie Review: '21 Jump Street'

If one wants to be critical of the state of today’s film industry, look at the studio comedy movie. Year in and year out hoards of comedies are put out by the studio system; most of them are unfunny, and when they are funny they lack substance. And when a comedy comes around that is original and legitimately great, it becomes the new standard for studios to follow, and the cycle of unoriginality continues.

That’s why its so refreshing when a film as entertaining and hilarious as 21 Jump Street comes around.

A revival of the hit ‘80s TV show that made Johnny Depp a teen heartthrob, 21 Jump Street follows a group of baby-faced cops who go undercover as high school students to bust crime. Jonah Hill (Superbad; also the film's co-writer) and Channing Tatum (Step Up, Dear John) star as an unlikely duo: a nerd and a jock who became best friends after high school. Going back to high school not only forces them to deal with today’s teenage scene (Tatum’s character sees a group of hipsters and quips, “What are those?”), but with eachother.

While trying to uncover a drug operation, they are forced to reconfront high school social life and relive all the insecurities and viciousness associated with it. Once the former dweeb becomes the cool kid and vice versa, conflict (obviously) arises. The movie’s less of a cop movie or a buddy comedy, and more about trying to relive the glory days and be something you’re not, and how that strains the bonds of true friendship.

That being said, 21 Jump Street jabs at the stereotypes its characters inhabit, and the film overall is gleefully self-aware; even the fact that the film is a revival of an old TV show is poked at. This film is one of the most clever, well-acted, and well-written comedies I’ve seen in a while; I can’t recall another movie I’ve seen in theaters recently where I laughed, cheered, and clapped the whole time. In addition to its comedic strengths, 21 Jump Street manages to pull off what few comedies do: finding the balance between humor and heart. The relationship between the two main characters is believable and real, and despite the self-reverence of the film it never borders on parody or feels fake.

The film’s directors, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, previously made Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, an animated comedy that was also clever, hilarious, and better than most films out in theaters. Yet it did badly at the box office, and its criminally underseen. 21 Jump Street made $35 million in its opening weekend; its a strong opening for an R-rated film and a testament to the fact that even in a film industry of trash, quality prevails.

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