21 Jump Street, the American crime comedy that has earned its place among the classics of comedy thanks to a balance between seductive simplicity and grotesque humor.
A classic comedy scenario…
On the script side, Michael Bacall and Jonah Hill have appropriated the synopsis of the eponymous series to adapt it into a film. Two police failures meet at the Jump Street department for an undercover mission at the high school whose goal is to dismantle a network of dealers: not enough to break three legs to a duck, as the other would say. Pitch level, we hit right in the American, and who says American says stunts, wild chases and explosions at all costs. As you will have understood, it is not the scenario that earned this film its place in the "cult films" category. But where 21 Jump Street was able to make the difference regarding the scenario, it is in the humor.
Contrary to Chef Gusto's famous adage "everyone can cook", not everyone can make humor, like this uncle who biches at every family meal with his heavy jokes. 21 Jump Street is the paradoxical marriage of zany and lightness. Do not look for lightness in the first sense of the word, you probably will not find it. And if you cut all the humorous processes one by one, nothing sensational. But nested with each other and recontextualized in the story of the film and in the action scenes, we obtain a harmony sublimated by the duo Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum. All this of course in a light and good-natured register that makes all the charm of the film.
… sublimated by actors who make the difference
As we said before, for humor to work, you need actors who embody it perfectly. And for once, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the directors, were able to find the right duo. It is composed of Jonah Hill, co-writer, and Channing Tatum, two actors who nothing connects and who, at first glance, have nothing to do with each other. The two embody very different characters: one brainless sportsman, the other chubby intellectual, for a pair of police officers as complementary as they are ineffective. This complicity in front of the camera was felt very early, and evolved thanks to the parallel development of the links between the two actors off-camera. So much so that Channing and Jonah shot together in 5 films after 21 Jump Street.
In the film, the bonds that unite them are all the stronger as their difference. They exude a certain form of tenderness that allows everyone to identify with this duo. This is the prowess of the pair's acting: the naivety of their role is far from the intelligence of their interpretation. In other words, the challenge is to play an immature friendship natural enough for each person to identify with this relationship. And the bet is won for the two actors who are as complementary in their role as in the singular interpretation they have of each character. We get this synergy that alone has managed to bring a delirious film to the status of a classic comedy. And for that, hats off.
21 Jump Street is therefore an essential American comedy because of its grotesque humor and its crazy characters, which allow a classic scenario to differentiate itself in this cinematographic category. In short, you are looking for a "good delirium" movie for a funny evening with friends, look no further: you have found it.
