’22 Jump Street’ lets Jonah, Channing be silly still

/ June 16, 2014
(From syracusenewtimes.com)

(From syracusenewtimes.com)

I pretty much got what I expected from “22 Jump Street.”

Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum are undercover cup buddies who get sent to college to unravel the circumstances behind a drug-related death.

In a funny, silly, just-above-dumb, slapstick-ish way.

It’s summer, everywhere except for on the calendar, and even that changes come Saturday. Anyway, all the folks around me in the theater for a rainy-day matinee in Cape Cod laughed at the pair of unlikely police officers.

Me, too.

Light-hearted affair, it was. No harm, on the surface.

But over on my weekly review as part of my film blogger duties for the Syracuse New Times, I did bring up my distaste for the way the main characters, and some of the supporting cast, too, poked fun at buddy roles. They surely were acting like lovers, but being defined as straight. I couldn’t decide if it came off as satirical or homophobic. But I knew I didn’t like it. As I say on the other site, I think comedy scenes like this are worth discussing.

If you’d like to read that film blog review on the Syracuse New Times site, click the link below.

http://www.syracusenewtimes.com/jonah-and-channing-are-funny-buddies-again/

Related posts

15 thoughts on “’22 Jump Street’ lets Jonah, Channing be silly still”

  1. I absolutely loved the first one, especially since Jonah’s role got to be ‘cool’ while Channing who was used to being popular as a ‘jock’ got to be a ‘nerd!’ That twist will never get old, if I watch the rerun of the first. I will have to check out the second one, very soon. Too bad it has some ‘downfalls!’ You would think that the writers could stay away from putting down ‘buddy roles!’ I happen to have loved the Mel Gibson/Danny Glover movies, along with the “Bad Boys” movies with Martin Lawrence and Will Smith. Why couldn’t they have tried to come up with a better way of celebrating male bonding? Smiles, Robin

    Like

    Reply

  4. i’m still excited to see this, for a no-brainer, laugh out loud comedy experience. ) as for the stereotypes/satires of the characters and the relationship between the men, i think with comedy there is a lot of poetic license taken with subjects that make people uncomfortable, and some movies push the envelope further than others. i just saw ‘the book of mormon’ yesterday onstage and ooh-boy did it make fun of things……..(great play)

    Like

    Reply

  5. Ah, I cannot wait to see this movie. The first installment was seen when it hit RedBox, and I couldn’t stop laughing … This isn’t my typical movie to pay money for, but I would have enjoyed it on the big screen.

    Tatum is a wonder to me. Off screen, he seems humble and down to earth, staying out of the tabloids. He went from these poorly written dance movies, to being typecast as some alpha male, then romantic comedies. His “Jump Streets” and cameo in “This is the End” proves that he is a good sport and is willing to branch out. He’s very funny, and I’m proud at his development. I think we can expect more non-typical roles for him in the future.

    Like

    Reply

  6. The FX Channel showed the first one last night, so we watched it. Not my normal pick, but it did make me laugh a few times. Jonah has a great way of delivering lines that other people could not make funny, and Channing was endearing in parts as well. The running gag in it was the explosion joke. I wonder if they continued that in this one?

    Like

    Reply

  7. I still haven’t watched the first one yet, maybe I will catch up on that and then decide on this. I know Matthew really wants to see it. Will check out your review shortly!

    Like

    Reply

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.