DVD Review: 21 Jump Street (15), (109 mins), new on DVD from Blockbuster.
The joke is that police officers Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) are so awful as cops that they are sent back to school - to nail the source of a drug which has just killed a teenager.
Complicating things still further is the fact that their identities are accidentally swapped so that the sporty one becomes the arty one - and vice versa.
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Hide AdSlowly, as they get sucked back into it, they start to see the chance to make good some of the mistakes they made when they really were kids at high school.
Best not to ponder why their cover isn’t instantly and obviously blown; best just to enjoy a witty little saga, fast-paced and good fun, with appealing performances from all concerned, particularly - and most importantly - from Hill and Tatum.
It’s not a particularly memorable film, but it’s more than watchable as two cops who should know better are plunged back into all the agonies and anxieties of being a teenager again.
And then, appropriately given his past history, Mr Depp turns up, briefly reliving his own memories of the series which sparked his career all those years ago.
Phil Hewitt
Rental courtesy of Blockbuster. For details of other new releases, see www.blockbuster.co.uk.