After being lukewarm to downright unenthused about all of today’s movies, here comes an honest-to-God crowd pleaser. I may not have been totally in love with this film, but I can recommend it to almost anyone and feel like they’ll have a pretty good time.
What Works: The set-up is that two cops who knew each other in high school (dorky Jonah Hill and dumb jock Channing Tatum) have to go back undercover in a high school a few years after they’ve graduated to bust a drug ring. The movie takes inspired pot shots at both high school movies, action comedies (loved a bit about explosions during a car chase), and remakes (listen to Nick Offerman’s hilarious speech early on about how unoriginal “the people in charge” are), and really kicks into gear with a plot twist that would have seemed like a contrivance in a lesser movie. Brainy Hill and “cool” idiot Tatum get their schedules switched so that Hill gets the easy schedule he can be cool in and Tatum has to take advanced courses he’s seriously under qualified for. From there the movie shoots off like a rocket as Hill finally gets to be one of the cool kids (led by popular drug dealer Dave Franco, James Franco’s brother in a performance that shows promise) and Tatum, even better, discovers he may not be as dumb as he always believed. Channing is especially hilarious in a performance of sly intelligence and deadpan expressions.
What Doesn’t Work: The revelation of the main villain feels underwhelming, and the action-heavy last third is less successful than what came before it. Like most action comedies, this film excels more at the laughs than the explosions, but those are minor complaints in a solid B+ type film.
What I Would Have Done Differently: Probably seen this before American Reunion, and then called it a day.