Movie Title: 21 Jump Street
Rating: R
Runtime: 109 min
Directed by: Phil Lord, Chris Miller
Starring: Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum
Based on the hit TV show, 21 Jump Street is about a pair of cops who are sent back to high school as students in order to bust a drug ring. They must overcome their fears from when they were in high school in order to fit in and not be noticed. But its not easy, especially since they accidently switched roles, and somehow Schmidt (Jonah Hill) becomes the popular kid and Jenko (Tatum) becomes one with the nerds. It's a test of friendship and loyalty, and they must figure out a way to work together or risk being found out.
Review:
We already know that Jonah Hill is hilarious. But this movie proved to me that Channing Tatum needs to stop playing a serious soldier boy in love with a girl he can never have. He needs to stop dancing around in circles and appearing in crappy sequels of Step Up. Tatum needs to do more comedy - because he's damn good at it. In some ways I think it helped that he had Jonah Hill as his co-star, because Hill is a master at improv / quick comebacks. The chemistry these two had together on screen was so natural, that it made me wonder what the hell Tatum was doing playing in movies like Dear John when he could be doing more things like this.
I have never watched the show, 21 Jump Street, but I think it's on my netflix queu. However, I believe the directors and script writers were smart in hardly addressing the show itself. There IS a cameo of Johnny Depp, and it's set in PERFECTLY. But other than that, I am not sure how much the movie took from the show.
The script was hilarious, and I was laughing so hard my stomach hurt. Like I said, Tatum and Hill work so well together. The rest of the cast was perfect too, and David Franco (James Franco's little brother) was the perfect villain like character. There was never a dull moment, and it was thoroughly enjoyable from beginning to end.
I highly recommend this, especially if you liked The Hangover, and The Other Guys, this is along the lines of that - but funnier.
Grade: B+
