A Genuinely Funny Movie

Rating: 8/10 (10 March 2013)

Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) are the stereotypical nerd and jock in high school who are on the opposite sides of the social spectrum. Seven years later, they both bump into each other while joining for the police force and they team up to utilize each other's positive aspects and improve themselves. They both connect and become genuine friends in due course. When a drug bust goes south, they are sent back to the local high school to blend in as students and bust a synthetic drug ring.
Personally, I'm not a big fan of either of the leads, but do enjoy some of their better fare. This, as it turns out, is one of their better movies. If you can picture Tatum as a high school kid, then right off the bat it starts out funny. The chemistry between Schmidt and Jenko is infectious and instant. The actors make us connect to these characters. In that regard, Jonah and Channing were fantastic. The script deserves credits for dextrously balancing outrageous humor with great character development. The movie is subtly self-aware and relevant to today's social scenario. The explanation for why a 20-year-old police idea was being rehashed, a loopy drug trip sequence which included ice-cream heads, the explosions or the lack of them and sequences like that are insanely hilarious. The movie also deserves credit for not only not hooking up Schmidt with a superhot girl, but actually managing to believably create a bond between him and a normal (but beautiful) girl.
I knew 21 Jump Street was the TV show that kick-started Johnny Depp's career, but haven't seen the show that the movie is based on. Even though the original was a serious drama and the new version veers into comedy territory, this is one of the best reboots I've seen. Johnny Depp's cameo came out of the blue and that was unbelievable. It was jaw-droppingly awesome. Overall, the movie is so much better than I thought it would be and is absolutely one of the best buddy comedies in a long time. The movie has real stakes, is fun, smart, honest, grounded and has a lot of heart along with its crude, comedic wizardry.
8/10