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Review: Tatum, Hill have fun back in high school in '21 Jump Street' - LubbockOnline.com

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Review: Tatum, Hill have fun back in high school in '21 Jump Street' - LubbockOnline.com
Mar 23rd 2012, 03:58

Make no mistake. There is enough humor interspersed throughout the big-screen adaptation of TV's "21 Jump Street" to keep most viewers satisfied.

In terms of proof: Those (like me) who cannot recall even one episode of the popular 1980s television series still laughed.

Regardless, while Jonah Hill may be on a roll — this is his follow-up to slimming down and earning his first Oscar nomination for "Moneyball" last year — the film cannot be mistaken for intelligent, witty, memorable or sophisticated comedy.

Witty and sophisticated definitely are not intended demographics.

What keeps our attention — even more than young cops being assigned to find drug suppliers and dealers in a familiar setting — is the assignment. Just when best buds and police rookies played by Hill and Channing Tatum have grown to adulthood, their next assignment is to go back to high school.

And for some — like Hill — high school is recalled as something close to the fourth level of hell. He and Tatum were not friendly back then because the nerds and the cool kids did not mix.

A thankfully short prologue even shows a long-haired Tatum hassling Hill, who was going for the Eminem/Slim Shady look despite wearing braces.

Prom? Forget it.

A strange thing happens this time around. Make no mistake, Tatum and Hill have become friends because each one's weakness is the other's strength. In short, they have each other's backs.

But they even forget their undercover identities and wind up in the wrong classes, Tatum somehow ends up hanging with the nerds, and recognizing himself in those who make the lives of his new friends a living hell.

Meanwhile, an insecure Hill might be lost running track and auditioning in drama class, but for the fact that he is forced to ingest a synthetic drug or be made as a narc. His instant confidence finds him singing "I Gotta Crow" and winning the lead role in "Peter Pan."

Which is cool, because he really, really likes Wendy in the play.

Who knows? He could even wind up at the prom he missed the first time around. So the last thing he wants to hear from his partner, also masquerading as his brother, is that he's in too deep.

Or that their commanding officer has warned everyone in the Jump Street program there are to be no sexual liaisons with students, teachers or anyone else while undercover.

I'm not sure what's funnier: Tatum informing more than one attracted girl that she's really hot, but he has to go, or Hill merely stammering when any romantic opportunity arises and covering that desire with a firm handshake,

To the credit of writers Hill and Michael Bacall, there also is a sad, undeniable truth for this investigation. As Ice Cube phrases it, "This time the dead kid was white. So people are."

To their credit, the acting helps carry even the silliest scenes, including a cameo by Johnny Depp, star of TV's "21 Jump Street."

But Tatum's star shines brightest. At times, he reveals a countenance that would fit perfectly in a "Dumb and Dumber" follow-up. But his coolest moment is when he's busy blowing things up with the dweebs and says, "This is science? I never knew. Let's do it again."

Sure, the filmmakers don't mind hitting viewers over the head with their messages. "21 Jump Street" is never for a moment subtle. Juvenile? Yes. Subtle? No.

And funny? It is at least as funny as it is crude, but still will be forgotten by the next morning, or at least by the time summer blockbusters arrive.

Not to worry, though. If "21 Jump Street" makes enough money, the reward will be Tatum and Hill returning undercover in college. That much is made clear.

To comment on this story:

william.kerns@lubbockonline.com
• 766-8712

shelly.gonzales@lubbockonline.com
• 766-8747

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