March 21, 2012

Partners Go Undercover in Their Former High School in Comedy

HERE WE COME TO SAVE THE DAY: Greg Jenko (Channing Tatum, left) and his partner Morton Schmidt (Jonah Hill) received their first assignment upon graduating from the Police Academy. They were responsible for patrolling a downtown park and were doing fine until they neglected to read a perpetrator his Miranda rights while arresting him.

Aside from their both missing the senior prom, popular jock Greg Jenko (Channing Tatum) and social outcast Morton Schmidt (Jonah Hill) had nothing in common when they were in high school. However, they missed the prom for very different reasons; Greg didn’t attend because of poor grades and Mort simply couldn’t find a date.

However, seven years later while attending the Police Academy, the pair has met again. This time, the academically challenged Greg and out of shape Mort help each other pass the written and physical portions of their final exam.

Upon graduating, these opposite personalities launched their law enforcement careers as partners. However, when they were patrolling a downtown park on bicycles they failed to read a perpetrator his Miranda rights. They were called on the carpet and ordered to report to 21 Jump Street, a clandestine detective unit based in an abandoned church with a dusty, Korean Jesus crucifix dangling over the altar.

Their new boss, Captain Dickson, (Ice Cube) assigns Schmidt and Jenko to work undercover at Sagan High School in order to crack a drug ring that is selling deadly narcotics. The disgraced officers leap at the opportunity to make amends for their earlier mistake, unaware of how hard it will be for them to pass themselves off as students.

Not only do they look older, but the culture has substantially changed since they left school. They soon discover that macho misbehaving and bullying are out; while studying, drama club, and caring about the environment are in. Even being gay is considered cool thanks to the television show Glee.

This change in culture sets the stage for the awkward scenarios which abound in 21 Jump Street, a hilarious comedy co-starring Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum. What makes the film so endearing is the camaraderie that the leads cultivate when the handsome ex jock has to rely on the goofy outcast geek to figure out how to fit in at school.

The movie is more than just a screen adaptation of the eighties cop drama of the same name. However, to its credit, the picture does pay homage to the classic TV series when it features cameo appearances by three of the original cast members: Johnny Depp, Peter DeLuise, and Holly Robinson-Peete.

Excellent (****). Rated R for violence, drug and alcohol abuse, coarse sexuality, crude humor, and pervasive profanity. Running time: 109 minutes. Distributor: Columbia Pictures.