21Jumpstreet (2012) - Originally Written July 14, 2012

 21 Jumpstreet (2012)

Watching the Movie: 

Very witty and funny satire and character based comedy with just enough low-brow, lowest common denominator humor to get it mass appeal. Add in cameos from Holly Robinson-Peete, Peter Deluise, and of course, Johnny FREAKIN' Depp, and you've got yourself an incredibly entertaining movie pretty much across the board.

Screening the film:

"Teen Movie imagery" with a twist (the rapid changes in what is "cool" vs what is "lame") information asymmetries and trust issues, drug usage. Stereotyping vs cultural norms (and thusly, being who you ARE as opposed to being who you are "supposed" to be) High school culture for students, administration and teachers, friendship, and historical context is ALL over this film.

Best Dialogue:

"We're reviving a canceled undercover project from the '80s and revamping it for modern times. The people behind this lack creativity and they've run out of ideas, so what they do now is just recycle shit from the past and hope that nobody will notice."

The Bottom Line: 

I went into 21JS with no real expectations except to laugh and enjoy myself, and actually was pleasantly surprised with a decent little film with a pretty timely message. The film is almost perfectly cast (only Rob Riggle as Mr. Walters got a little annoying, only because it felt like he was trying way too hard to be Jeremy Piven). It's only real downside is that like all films that have such a heavy historical context, it probably won't age very well and it likely will not stand up to repeated viewings, thus it's not good enough for the full Monty, even if it does have Magic Mike in it. . .

4 out of 5.

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