21 Fun Street

Rating: 6/10 (30 September 2016)

"21 Jump Street" is an American 105-minute film from 2012, so it will have its 5th anniversary next year. The directors are Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, not yet Emmy nominees at that time and the writer is Michael Bacall. He collaborated on the screenplay with Oscar nominee Jonah Hill and Hill is of course also a lead actor here. His co-lead is Channing Tatum and if you hear "21 Jump Street", then maybe you will think of the Johnny Depp television show right away. Depp is also one of the stars of the original series, who have a brief cameo in here. But back to the protagonists: We have Schmidt and Jenko who went to school together and one of them was the kid nobody liked and the other the kid everybody liked. And even if they weren't friends at all, they ended up as colleagues in the same profession. They work as police officers and the time they have spent together turned them into friends over the years. But sadly, they are as incompetent as it gets. This incompetence (and their infantile behavior) resulted in them being transferred to another department where they are instructed to go undercover after a student died from a new drug. They pose as students for pretty much the entire film afterward and not only their friendship is tested, but also their (in)competence.
I think this was a pretty decent watch. Most of the comedy worked well just like the character relationships and also the moments of drama, which weren't that serious admittedly. It's all about the comedy and the protagonists' relationship. Dave Franco (James' brother) and Oscar winner Brie Larson play major parts as well as students going to (high) school with our two heroes. Nick Offerman (P&R) and Jake Johnson (New Girl) give one-scene performances while Ice Cube shows up more frequently as the guy (pissed at) being in charge of the two chaotic guys. But in the end all turns out well. This is not a film you would watch if you were in for some realistic and convincing story or some great depth, but if you are just in the mood for a fairly pointless, but fun little movie. Hill and Tatum do what they have to do and I can see how the film received good reactions by most audiences. It was successful enough for a(n equally appreciated) sequel that came out two years later and maybe there will even be a third movie at some point. I personally would not say that I liked this movie enough to immediately want to see the second, but I still give it a thumbs-up and recommend the watch. Finally, I want to tell you guys about one of my favorite scenes that showed how the film is pretty classy. In a more serious moment, Hill's character says Tatum's that things shall not again be the way they were back then and everybody would expect things to actually become that way indeed, but the filmmakers took the creative path of making Hill's character the way Tatum's was back then and the other way around. It is truly a well-crafted film and you should see it. Very entertaining and this means something coming from somebody like myself who definitely isn't the greatest Jonah Hill fan.