Still, Schmidt's unease with women is not cured by his new 'popular' status, as is proven when he interacts with Molly (Brie Larson), his co-star in a school play. In a reversal of roles, Schmidt ends up hooking up with the cool kids while Jenko falls in with the geeks.

Because they (supposedly) look younger than they are, they are ideal candidates to return to high school, infiltrate the student body, and locate the supplier of a new designer drug. When it becomes apparent they are not cut out for conventional cop work, they are reassigned to the Jump Street Squad, headed by the angry Captain Dickson (Ice Cube). He and Schmidt bond while working their way through the police academy, then become partners thereafter. His best friend is Jenko (Channing Tatum), an easygoing, handsome, dumb guy who has no problems with the opposite sex. He may be a virgin and he's certainly awkward around women. Schmidt (Jonah Hill) is the socially inept nerd. It starts out as a mismatched buddy movie. This production does not rely solely upon nostalgia to get bodies into theater seats. The people behind the camera - directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller (who previously collaborated on Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs) and scribes Hill and Michael Bacall - put some effort into transforming 21 Jump Street into something that might appeal to a current audience. Still, all things considered, the film is funnier than one might expect. 21 Jump Street needs a ninth-inning cameo to keep the audience's attention. At 90 minutes, this might have been breezy and enjoyable.

And sometimes it falls into the trap of creating unfunny-just-for-Jonah Hill set pieces. From start to finish, little that happens during the course of this production is intended to be taken seriously.Ģ1 Jump Street sends up action movies. With 21 Jump Street, a series one would not assume deserved a big-screen resurrection, the filmmakers have opted with the latter approach. Another way is go about things the way Todd Phillips did with Starsky & Hutch: transform it into a comedy/parody. When Michael Mann reworked Miami Vice, he discarded much of what made it 'hip' during its TV run and concentrated on the raw premise. Trying to accomplish a 'straight' remake of something so irrevocably tied to the '80s could not be done in 2012 it wouldn't work. The television series 21 Jump Street, like many old shows, is a product of its time.

21 jump street full movie age guide