Let’s start this review of 22 Jump Street at the end. You’ll understand why in a minute.
If you watched, and liked, 21 Jump Street, then this was made is for you. No point in wasting time, you’re allowed to leave now. If you haven’t watched 21… but like your bromances hot, ludicrous, and sprinkled liberally with fratboy humour, then this is for you. Again, no point reading any further. Just take my word for it. But if you don’t like your bromances thus (or not at all, even), but have a reasonably tolerant sense of humour and a couple of hours to kill, then you might surprise yourself by enjoying this. Do read further as I try to explain why.
Oh, and if you haven’t watched 21 Jump Street, can’t cope with bromances or fratboys, and struggle with your sense of humour? Well, I hear there’s an interesting documentary about the Norwegian fishing industry at the Cinematheque tonight…
No, but seriously. 22… does not set out to be taken seriously. It sets out to make you laugh, often dipping close to the lowest common denominator to do so. But it does this in a knowing and self referential way. It’s neither mocking nor unnecessarily cruel, other than to itself as a film; despite the Benny Hill-style slapstick and a somewhat scattergun approach to storytelling, there are lots of very funny lines in the script. Think of it as a sketch show, held together by an incidental storyline and two very good comic actors.
In 21 Jump Street, bumbling cops Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) went undercover in high school to break up a drugs ring. Despite the odds and obstacles –pretty much all self created –they succeed. Success breeds success, they say, so the higher-ups in the police force throw a lot of money at the 21 Jump Street undercover project (now across the street at 22 Jump Street. A Vietnamese church this time. Long story.) Boss Captain Dickson (Ice Cube, playing a parody of his Ice Cube persona but in uniform, so to speak. NWA was a very long time ago, I suppose), is dubious, as anyone who has actually seen Jenko and Schimdt in action would be. But the bigger budget means he now has a big flashy office and gets to wear $800 shoes. Even if no one gets to see them. (One of many meta-referential jokes across the film; 21… had a budget of $40m and made $200m. With an almost double budget of $70m, 22 Jump Street’s producers –Messieurs Hill and Tatum –no doubt hope that it will do twice as well at the box office.) This time, a drug ring has infiltrated the local college, and someone has to weed it out. Schmidt and Jenko are sent undercover once again, and have the opportunity to grow up. A little.
Second time around, it’s Jenko takes to the undercover environment like a fish to water. Or a frat boy to alcohol. Zook (Wyatt Russell), an amiable meathead on the varsity football team, takes a shine to him and brings him on board both team and fraternity. Schmidt, though, is at a loose end, jealous of Jenko and his easy assimilation. True, he does hit it off with Maya (Amber Stevens), who he picks up at a poetry slam (don’t ask) and gives him the opportunity to boast, fratboy style, about his conquest back at 22 Jump Street. (This, later, will cause him all the grief possible in the world.) There are tenuous links to be followed to the drug dealers, but the truth is that the boys might have infiltrated just a bit too well.
But 22 Jump Street was not made for the purpose of critical plot analysis. It was made to make us laugh; and boy, does it do that that well. It works principally because Tatum and Hill complement each other very well indeed, giving the film a surprisingly authentic comedic charm. There are a few flat notes; not so much a slightly negligent approach to storytelling, rather that it goes along a bit too long. There are moments of genius –like when Schmidt finds out who exactly he slept with, and why boasting about it might not have been in his best interests. Elsewhere, some moments and some jokes –Jenko’s thing with Lamborghinis, for instance –are stretched out a bit too far.
But no lasting harm done. Directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller know exactly what is expected of them, creating good unwholesome fare; just the thing one wants for an evening at the multiplex.
22 Jump Street (2014)
Starring Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Peter Stormare, Wyatt Russell, Amber Stevens and Ice Cube
Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller
112 mins, English with Hebrew subtitles.
