Critics Consensus: 21 Jump Street is Certified Fresh

Plus, The Kid with a Bike is Certified Fresh, and Casa de mi padre is mostly silly.

by RT Staff | March 15, 2012 | Comments

This week at the movies brings only one new wide release: 21 Jump Street, starring Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum as a pair of detectives who go back to school. What do the critics have to say?

In theory, a revamp of 21 Jump Street doesn’t sound all that promising. In practice, critics say, it’s a surprisingly good movie, one that successfully satirizes its source material while plumbing the depths of its well-developed characters. Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum star as a pair of cops who go undercover as high school students to bust a drug ring. However, as their investigation progresses, our heroes find they still carry plenty of baggage from their own school days. The pundits say the Certified Fresh 21 Jump Street is a raucous comedy that’s also surprisingly heartfelt, thanks to the deft comic interplay between Hill and Tatum. (Check out this week’s Total Recall, in which we run down memorable action TV shows that were adapted into movies.)

Also opening this week in limited release:

Gerhard Richter Painting, a documentary about the great German artist at work, is at 100 percent.
The Wise Kids, a coming-of-age dramedy about a trio of high schoolers dealing with life’s uncertainties, is at 100 percent.
The Dardenne brothers’ The Kid with a Bike, a drama about a lonely pre-teen who bonds with a kindly hairdresser, is at 96 percent.
Natural Selection, a dramedy about a devoutly religious woman who discovers her husband fathered a child out of wedlock, is at 83 percent.
Jeff, Who Lives at Home, starring Jason Segel and Ed Helms in a comedy about an aimless man searching for meaning in his life, is at 72 percent.
Free Men, a historical drama about an Algerian man trying to rescue Jews in Nazi-occupied Paris, is at 63 percent.
Detachment, starring Adrien Brody as a substitute teacher who makes an impact on his students despite his troubled personal life, is at 59 percent.
Casa de mi padre, starring Will Ferrell in a Spanish-language comedy about a mild-mannered ranch hand who gets caught up in a drug war, is at 38 percent (check out our interview with Ferrell here).
Delicacy, starring Audrey Tautou as a lovelorn woman who falls for a thoroughly average guy in her office, is at 37 percent.
The FP, a sci-fi comedy about a young man competing in a violent video game competition, is at 25 percent.
Seeking Justice, starring Nicolas Cage and January Jones in a thriller about a man who goes on a mission to avenge an attack on his wife, is at 28 percent.
Reuniting The Rubins, a comedy about an eccentric family’s wacky Passover gathering, is at zero percent.