Phil Lord’s and Chris Miller’s genius-level TV-to-movie adaptation, 21 Jump Street, has no right being as good as it is, but it’s easily the best comedy released so far this year and it could well be counted among the top five by the time we’re talking about year-end business. Hill’s in top form here, but Channing Tatum proves to be the film’s secret weapon– he just dominates, and if you weren’t a fan of him before (like me), you very well could be afterward. Have a look at my expanded thoughts over on GST!
A Constant Visual Feast 
Tatum has been growing on me lately. I didn’t really care for him and then his performances in Haywire and The Eagle changed my mind.
Tatum really blew me away. I liked him in Haywire, too, but I haven’t really had a lot of exposure to him otherwise– I haven’t seen The Eagle or A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, and everything about G.I. Joe struck me so badly that I couldn’t say if he was worse than the other cast members. Jump Street has me way in his corner. He’s amazing.
This was a total laugh riot with some of the best meta humor I have ever seen. The subversive nature of the whole thing put it over the top for me, but that it’s so damn consistently funny with a truly heartfelt relationship at the center make it all the more satisfying. Tatum just blew me away with how easy he adapted to a comedy, I saw flashes of it in the crappy Dilemma but this fearless he had to go for broke was truly outstanding. I love this film. After the Peter Pan play, the teacher says “and that’s the end of act 2” had be busting out laughing. This, The Grey, and Kill List are my faves so far this year. Kill List on top 😉
This is definitely a high point of the year for me so far, Blain.
Totally agree. Channing Tatum was the best thing by a mile about that terrible film “the Dilemma”, his comic presence just leaps off the screen in this. I think the film ran out of steam in the second half when it started ticking all of the “buddy cops falling out” boxes, but perked up at the end again.
Not sure if you’ve seen it, but I’d throw Goon into the ring as being the best comedy of the year… there’s not as many wholesale laughs as this, but it’s more consistent and charming.
I think what sustains that “buddy cops have a falling out” bit is how great Hill and Tatum play it together. It’s not unlike watching Hot Fuzz and seeing Frost and Pegg have their own disbanding before reuniting in the end to kick some ass together; it’s fairly rote in terms of progression and conflict but the actors, and yeah, the direction, too, sell it really, really well.
I haven’t seen Goon. I’m actually not aware of how I can see it at this point, but that’s one that caught my curiosity a while back despite the trailer being badly cut.
You’ll be happy to know that I just got back from seeing this. Not sure if I feel as much as a glow as you did, but I’m not too terribly far off. It’s filled with sophomoric humor, but done right, and that makes all the difference. I’m not gonna turn my nose up at dick-and-fart jokes so long as they’re damn funny, and these were. It was just *wrong* in a way that’s right. Absurdist at times, meta at others, very aware of what it is while not letting the story getting too out-of-hand (the only place where it seemed to was the extended car-motorcycle chase.
And yeah, Tatum certainly shines. Has me anticipating Magic Mike a lot more than I was a few hours ago.
Biggest complaint: not enough Offerman. I look forward to the sequel.
Bingo. Didn’t I say it was hilarious? And you’re right, “wrong in a way that’s right” describes this flick perfectly. I think that’s true of every single detail present, from the tripping out scenes to Ellie Kemper’s moments hitting on Tatum. (I think it does get out of hand in the car chase scene, but then I also think it has to. I know the crowd I saw the movie with ate that whole sequence up. I mean, come on. Chickens?!)
Tatum’s the man. But I TOTALLY agree that there’s not enough Offerman. If he gets a bigger role in part 2 it’ll be totally justified.