Netflix And Chill: Superbad (2007)

Did I have any specific reason for suddenly wanting to revisit Superbad? Yes. I wanted a reminder of the time when I enjoyed the work of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. The pair of them have been receiving a fair bit of praise recently for their latest TV show, The Studio, and I don't know what others have seen in that show that I am missing. It's smug, absolutely relies on some great cameos to make it work, and feels like what you would get if someone wanted to make The Player, but with no teeth and someone in the lead role who has 1000% less charisma and presence than Tim Robbins. But I seem to be in the minority with that opinion. Ah well, I knew I could revisit Superbad with a sense of optimism. It may have been some time since my last viewing of it, but I hoped that it held up.

Phew. It holds up. There are issues with some of the language and attitudes, but that's par for the course with almost every teen movie. This holds up a LOT better than many others I could mention.

Seth (Jonah Hill) and Evan (Michael Cera) are besties about to go on different life paths after high school. That inspires them to do try their hardest when they get a surprise invite to a party that should have both alcohol and girls present. Although they have to supply some of the alcohol, which they hope to do with the help of their friend, Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), owner of one fake ID that has him named as McLovin. As they try to get the alcohol and make their way to Becca (Martha MacIsaac) and Jules (Emma Stone), our young leads end up plagued by problems. There's a robbery, a couple of friendly cops (played by Rogen and Bill Hader), and a guy named Francis (Joe Lo Truglio) who drives as poorly as he interacts with others in his own age group. 

There's nothing really special about Superbad. It's a typical teen movie, in many ways, but also avoids feeling too familiar because of the moments that choose to focus on the co-dependent nature of the friendship between Seth and Evan. It IS funny though, which is a big bonus, and the timing worked out well for it becoming a fantastic showcase for a wide variety of performers. Although not his first feature, director Greg Mottola also did a lot of TV work, some of which had him working with a number of the main individuals featured here.

Hill and Cera have a great rapport with one another, the nervous energy and crudity of the former nicely complementing the quiet anxiety of the latter.  Mintz-Plasse is almost a combination of the two of them, with an extra helping of unfounded confidence added in to the mix, and having the three of them approach their teen troubles in their own unique ways helps to make the film more interesting and fun than it otherwise would be. Rogen and Hader are a blast as the friendly young cops, MacIsaac is sweet enough, Stone is very cool and adorable, and Lo Truglio is a lot of fun as he helps to fill out a large supporting cast that also includes Kevin Corrigan, Dave Franco, Martin Starr, Clark Duke, and a few other familiar faces.

If you don't like any of the main players involved with this then I would advise you to give it a miss, especially if you have somehow never got around to seeing it before now. If you think you don't like some of the main players, but also remember a time when you might have found them much more enjoyable and entertaining than they are today, then you may want to put it on your viewing schedule. I'm glad I did, and I could happily rewatch it any time. It almost felt like a cool drink of water after tolerating the disappointing comedic desert of The Studio.

8/10

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Netflix And Chill: You People (2023)

An updated version of Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner with some additional commentary on cultural appropriation and white privilege, You People is the kind of film you will know you should love or hate based on the trailer alone. I thought it looked fun, I watched the film, and I had fun with it.

Jonah Hill plays Ezra, a Jewish man who is working in a financial role that he doesn’t really enjoy. What really makes him happy is a podcast he co-hosts with his best friend, a woman named Mo (Sam Jay), all about the commonalities and differences between white and black culture. Ezra also really enjoys an encounter with Amira (Lauren London), a beautiful black woman, that leads to a serious relationship, but that emphasises the differences between them more than any chat on a podcast could. Ezra gets a hard time from Amira's parents, played by Eddie Murphy and Nia Long, while Amira finds herself made uncomfortable and unhappy by the oblivious stereotyping and insensitivity of Ezra's parents, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus and David Duchovny.

Directed by Kenya Barris, who has written numerous features and directed some TV show episodes before this, You People is a fun mix of Meet The Parents and that classic movie I mentioned in the first sentence. It's not as good as Meet The Parents, which puts everything in place and escalates the comedy in a much better way, but it's certainly a lot better than Guess Who (the remake/update of Guess Who's Coming To Dinner that tried to mine the topic for laughs without giving enough time to the more serious side of the situation). The biggest problem seems to be that the script was co-written by Barris and Hill, with the latter feeling like some idealised version of a white ally who knows enough of the music and fashion, and can play basketball well enough, to be viewed as safe and cool when compared to other "tourists". Maybe that side of things came from Barris, but it doesn't feel that way.

Am I saying that it hits a number of surprisingly similar beats to the much-maligned Soul Man? I might be. People will perhaps tell me off for that, but when you think of a few key scenes, they're either an inversion or recreation of moments from that movie. But I guess it's okay, because Barris is at the helm, and a number of transitions are given a funky, graffiti, style. And we get shown a lot of cool footwear. Seriously, WHAT is going on with the focus on the footwear here? Our two leads are defined by their footwear, they're used to show the passage of time in a relationship, and sneakers even tie in to the grand finale. Maybe finding true love is just meeting someone else who loves the same Nikes as you do and being brave enough to ask "shall we just do it?"

Hill and London are good in the lead roles, with the latter doing the important job of lighting up the screen and showing herself as a beautiful and strong young woman who has chosen someone that makes her happy. Despite the strand that allows him to be an ideal cool guy, Hill is a lot of fun when cringing at events unfolding around him, usually caused by one set of parents or another. That's where you get the real treats though. Long doesn't get as much to do, but Murphy enjoys another great role in what might yet be another resurgence in his lengthy film career. He's a stern figure for almost every minute, and enjoys trying to prove that Ezra isn't the right man for his daughter. Duchovny is hilarious with the way his character is always grasping for cultural references to use and rapper names to drop into conversation, but it's Louis-Dreyfus who gets more of the laughs, being the kind of person who doesn't realise how inappropriate they are being when trying to overcompensate for their ignorance of black culture. Both of the characters played by Louis-Dreyfus and Duchovny seem unable to view Amira as a strong and gorgeous woman without viewing her through an additional filter because of her skin colour. Jay is an extra shot of energy in her scenes, and there are a few effective bits of scene-stealing from Molly Gordon, in the role of Ezra's sister (a young lesbian who is already very used to their parents making them cringe).

You People is most interesting when showing people unaware of their own behavioural changes, or when Ezra is made to think more about his ability to comment on cultural aspects that he may never be fully immersed in. There are a good selection of laugh throughout, a number of decent soundtrack choices, and the runtime just manages to avoid feeling overlong, despite coming in at just under the two hour mark. It's a well-made comedy that allows some performers to remind you of why they have had such enduring careers. And I look forward to seeing more from London, who has had a decent film career already, but hopefully gets some more central parts after being such a star in this.

7/10

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Netflix And Chill: Don't Look Up (2021)

People denying facts that are literally about to hit them in a major death-strike, a three word slogan rallying round those who decide to politicise a major problem for the entire human race, and media that is complicit in helping to keep the masses placid and uninformed. Don't Look Up is a comedy that foregoes subtlety in an attempt to present something that is horribly close to the truth of our present times.

Written and directed by Adam McKay (from a story co-created by David Sirota), who has made a number of superb comedies in the past decade that use humour to probe major societal problems with surgeon-like precision, this may be an obvious allegory for the many people trying to deny climate change, but it's also yet another McKay movie clearly showing how so many ills of our world are rooted in the same place as every evil, money. A news team (Cate Blanchett and Tyler Perry) want to keep their audience happy for the ratings. A president (Meryl Streep) and her son (Jonah Hill) want to stay high in the polls, and nothing upsets people more than a potentially Extinction Level Event. There's also Peter Isherwell (Mark Rylance), a Steve Jobs/Mark Zuckerberg/Elon Musk amalgamation, a very rich man with just enough scientific knowledge, and smart people on his payroll, to think he has all the answers.

The two lead characters, however, are scientists. Kate Diblasky (Jennifer Lawrence) spotted comet, which is then named after her, and Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) helped to work out the trajectory of it. It is these two people who spend the movie trying to warn everyone of their impending doom, helped by Dr. Teddy Oglethorpe (Rob Morgan), but hindered by so many other people who have their own take on things, in defiance of the truth.

As well as those already mentioned, this packed cast includes roles of varying sizes for Melanie Lynskey, Timothée Chalamet, Ron Perlman, Ariana Grande, Himesh Patel, Michael Chiklis, Robert Joy, and Paul Guilfoyle. Everyone is doing great work here, but the leads are surprisingly perfect in their roles. DiCaprio is allowed to be a very nervy individual, prone to anxiety attacks and a lack of confidence whenever he is in the spotlight. Lawrence's character is less nervy, but also less "media-trained", which works against her trying to warn people of impending doom. She doesn't care about who people are, she doesn't care about who gets upset, and her spiky demeanour is very funny, especially when she is arguing against a typically couldn't-give-less-of-a-shit Hill (who is both the son of the POTUS, and her Chief Of Staff). Morgan is the old hand at playing the game, as frustrated as the other scientists, but able to think up more strategic options to get the message out there. Streep isn't bad, she's certainly a lot of fun, but her character is the one who suffers most from the writing. She's a bit inconsiderate, trying to spin things the best possible way, but the comedy would have been strengthened by making her a complete idiot who couldn't stop herself from saying the dumbest stuff every time she had an opportunity to talk to scientists and people making serious plans. I guess sometimes you can't write anything stranger/funnier than reality. Blanchett is excellent, all super teeth and hair, and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by Perry working so brilliantly in his co-anchor role, showing a real talent for being able to play comedy well by simply playing it straight (unlike the style of histrionics on display with his Madea character). Lynskey is a sweet and calm presence whenever she's onscreen, Rylance is amusingly unsettling in his constant awkwardness, and Chalamet is a great addition to the second half of the movie, as sweet and calming as Lynskey, in a way. Grande enjoys herself, and has a very amusing main scene talking to a character played by Kid Cudi, Perlman is hilarious in his very small role, and Patel is, well, his character feels completely extraneous, but he's as good as ever.

There's a decent score by Nicholas Britell and a number of songs that work well in the soundtrack, although the best one is the fake "Justt Look Up" song by Grande, as well as excellent sound design throughout, but this is a film mostly about the visuals, from the first sighting of the comet to the unavoidable ending. It's also a film about having your own kind of faith, something that McKay makes a hell of a case for in the third act.

The news keeps telling us how we can do better in our daily lives, with recycling, going vegetarian, using our car less, etc. Don't Look Up serves as a reminder that individuals aren't the big problem. The big problem comes from those with the money, with the power, and it is reassuring to think that their long-term plan for money to buy their way out of everything is a delusion. Because it is. That's not to say that we shouldn't all play our part in trying to ensure that we avoid being the species to destroy the entire planet. It's just that, as well as doing our small household part, we really do need to do whatever it takes to create a massive shift away from the unrelenting damage being done by companies headed up by people who will never make enough money to satisfy them. The irony being that this review will be shared on Facebook and Twitter after I wrote it on my beloved Macbook Pro, and you can all choose to read it on your smartphone of choice. But at least I have never been flown by private jet to a climate change conference. So, y'know, everything in moderation.

But I digress. This is a great comedy that consistently stays on point when it comes to the serious issue at the heart of it (the nonsensical equality that has developed between opinion and facts). A lot of the cast are giving brilliant performances, with the two leads absolutely perfect in their roles, and McKay continues his run of great films that have started to make his filmography a real treat for fans of comedy and social commentary.

8/10

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Mubi Monday: Mid90s (2018)

Jonah Hill moves from star to writer-director with this nostalgic look at the life of a young boy who finds his place among some skateboarding kids who, let's try to be polite here, mostly don't seem to have any clue about the work-life balance attitude they will need to get through approaching adulthood.

Sunny Suljic plays Stevie, the young boy who spends a lot of his time trying to avoid being beaten up by his older brother (Ian, played by Lucas Hedges). But as well as being afraid of his sibling, Stevie obviously looks up to him, and that may well be the male figure he tries most to emulate on his way to finding himself, until he starts to hang around with some boys who enjoy spending their time skateboarding and generally trying to impress one another. A couple of the group members have ideas about things they want to do well in life, another couple can't really see themselves beyond the image they have established within the group. Such is teenage life.

The influences on Hill are obvious throughout his feature directorial debut, which is at least accomplished and more mature throughout than many might expect. Although nostalgia is at the heart of things, this is a film that feels more like a patchwork of other films than the semi-autobiographical experience it's supposed to be. Kids is a big touchstone, as is This Is England (both acknowledged by Hill as some of the main influences). In fact, despite the skateboarding aspect of the plot, this hews a lot closer to This Is England than any other film that Hill decided to use as a "template" for his tale.

Unfortunately, there's nothing new here, which would be fine if it didn't all feel slightly stale and overdone. For me, if I want to watch some skateboarding teens then I will watch some of the fine documentaries that have been released over the years. If I want to see turbulent teen years onscreen then I can pick from literally hundreds of other movies. And if I want something to identify with then, well, I'll obviously be looking at the home-grown UK films that seek to capture snapshots of past decades. Mid90s is perfectly fine, for what it is, but there's no single aspect of it that can't be found, in a better form, in many other movies.

Suljic is good in the lead role, and I hope to keep up with whatever he does after being impressed by his last few movie roles, and the rest of the teens he befriends do fine. Na-kel Smith fares the best, thanks to the script, but the performances from Olan Prenatt, Gio Galicia, and Ryder McLaughlin are all on the nose. Alexa Demie is the one young girl featured in the cast, she does well, and Katherine Waterston puts in another performance that fails to convince me why she is ever the first choice for any role, aside from her surname. But it's Hedges who is actually given the best role, which makes it more disappointing when his character is not explored further. He's more complex than his younger brother, and has seen more that is only mentioned in passing once or twice. His past would seem to make a better film than the main character's present, but that's not the movie we are given.

Despite what I have said here, in terms of my own ultimate ambivalence towards the film and my preference for the Shane Meadows work it got me thinking of, I can see why this will obviously appeal more to American viewers who can have their own teen experiences to feel nostalgic for, accompanied by an appropriate selection of tunes from that era. It didn't work that well for me but, then again, I am not the target audience.

6/10

Americans can already buy it here.

How To Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)

Considering How To Train Your Dragon was one of my favourite animated movies in recent years, my expectations were high for this sequel. Some early glowing reviews pushed those expectations even higher. While I disagree with some who think that this is even better than the first movie, I have to say that it comes pretty close (in fact, I rate it equally). I left the cinema happy, looking forward to whenever I get to watch it again in the comfort of my own home.

All of the main cast members return in a story that picks up, of course, some time after the events of the first movie. The island of Berk is now a bit of a dragon haven since everyone has been shown the way forward by young Hiccup (Jay Baruchel). In fact, most of Hiccup's friends enjoy spending their days dragon racing, with sheep being collected for points, while our hero disappears to fly around the clouds with Toothless, mapping out other territories. On one of his journeys, Hiccup finds out that a ship full of heavies are hunting dragons to take back to the fearsome Drago Bludvist (Djimon Hounsou). Drago wants to build, and lead, a dragon army. As if that wasn't enough to process, Hiccup also meets his mother (Cate Blanchett), a woman thought dead for years and years.

Taking a darker path than the first movie, How To Train Your Dragon 2 is, consequently, ever so slightly less fun. That's not a major problem, however, as everything is mixed together so perfectly. The characters are all as enjoyable to spend time with as they were the first time around, the dragons are just as colourful and cute as ever (and sometimes fierce), and the animation is just about as gorgeous as you can get.

Director Dean DeBlois, who also wrote the script based on the book series by Cressida Cowell, does a fantastic job, exploring themes of responsibility, treachery and loss this time around. The film has a number of emotional ups and downs, but it's all pitched perfectly at the level of the target age group.

The vocal cast all do a great job again, for the most part. Baruchel is good fun, joined once more by America Ferrera, T. J. Miller, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and Kristen Wiig. Gerard Butler and Craig Ferguson also return as, respectively, Stoick (Hiccup's father) and Gobber. Hounsou is an impressive villain, truly mean and menacing whenever he's onscreen. The only voice that doesn't quite work is Blanchett. I get what she's going for, but it just ends up coming out as a bit of a garbled mess, to my ears.

I don't think I can adequately convey how much love I have for these movies. They get everything right. Everything. Even in my late thirties, I now want a dragon. I want to fly through the air, skimming the tops of clouds as I go. I want to be just like any one of the good-natured dragon riders shown onscreen. If that is how I feel when watching the movies then I can only guess how they fire up the imaginations of the kids watching everything onscreen.

Even in the densely-populated field of quality animated movies, this soars above the rest.

9/10.

Be sure to pick up the first movie, if you haven't already - http://www.amazon.com/Train-Your-Dragon-Blu-ray-Digital/dp/B00I0VTPWA/ref=sr_1_3?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1404459519&sr=1-3&keywords=how+to+train+your+dragon

Please feel free to remember me whenever you're visiting Amazon and see my book there.

The UK version can be bought here - http://www.amazon.co.uk/TJs-Ramshackle-Movie-Guide-Reviews-ebook/dp/B00J9PLT6Q/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1395945647&sr=1-3&keywords=movie+guide

And American folks can buy it here - http://www.amazon.com/TJs-Ramshackle-Movie-Guide-Reviews-ebook/dp/B00J9PLT6Q/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395945752&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=TJs+ramshackle+mov

As much as I love the rest of the world, I can't keep up with all of the different links in different territories, but trust me when I say that it should be there on your local Amazon.

22 Jump Street (2014)

21 Jump Street was one of the best comedies of the last few years so I was very happy when I heard that all of the main players were returning for a sequel, imaginatively titled 22 Jump Street. Once the trailer landed I was even happier. It looked like it was going to be a lot of fun. Well, having just seen the movie, I can assure fans of the first film that they will have almost as much fun with this brilliant follow-up.

Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum return to play Schmidt and Jenko, two undercover cops who have managed to get some good results, despite moments of staggering ineptitude. After going undercover at a high school for their first big job they end up now going to college. As Deputy Chief Hardy (Nick Offerman) goes to great lengths to point out that everyone wants them to do exactly what they did the first time around. More money has been ploughed into the project, the setting is slightly different, but the journey taken by our two leads should be a very familiar one. Nobody wants it to be different. Schmidt and Jenko may beg to differ, but they soon end up reprising a number of familiar comedy beats.

The plot isn't all that important to 22 Jump Street. What matters here is the meta brilliance of it all and the sheer exuberance in almost every scene. Sure, there may be some people who dislike seeing scenes that feel like pop video moments interrupting a standard narrative, but it's hard not to be swayed by the fun that Tatum and Hill are obviously having. The other main cast members - Ice Cube, Wyatt Russell, Amber Stevens, Peter Stormare, Jillian Bell, Jimmy Tatro - also get to have a good time, with almost everyone onscreen getting involved with at least one big laugh. Ice Cube and Offerman both steal a few scenes, and there are a good number of laughs packed into the one sequence that allows Rob Riggle and Dave Franco to show up again.

The script, written by Michael Bacall, Oren Uziel, and Rodney Rothman, isn't exactly a gold-plated classic, with a lot of the dialogue sounding completely unfunny out of context, but the execution of the material by directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (who are now 4 for 4), and the chemistry between the two leads, more than makes up for the shortcomings. There's also that meta coating that gives a lot of the lines more than one meaning, often quite audaciously.

As a comedy, it works. As a comedy sequel, it works. As an action comedy, it . . . . . . just manages to get by, but only thanks to one or two set-pieces at the start and end of the film. As a brilliantly sly sequel that gleefully plays with expectations and spends plenty of time ridiculing itself, however, I put it on a par with Gremlins 2: The New Batch. It's a cheeky way to recycle elements from the first movie, but it works.

I don't think you'll find a better film this year that includes such a strong bromance, a pair of twins uncannily in sync with one another (played by The Lucas Brothers), Patton Oswalt, Ice Cube in an office that LOOKS like an ice cube, a nod to Benny Hill, and some slam poetry that may feel very familiar to fans of So I Married An Axe Murderer. But let me know if you do.

8/10

Pick up the first movie here if you haven't got it already - http://www.amazon.com/Jump-Street-UltraViolet-Digital-Blu-ray/dp/B003Y5H5BA/ref=sr_1_4?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1402291071&sr=1-4&keywords=22+jump+street

The Watch (2012)

A comedy sci-fi movie, starring Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Richard Ayoade and Jonah Hill, and directed by Akiva Schaffer, The Watch just falls short in the comedy department. Of course, there will be many people reading this review who immediately switch off once they find out that Stiller and Vaughn are involved, but I'm a fan of those guys and they have some good moments in this movie. Just not enough of them.

The plot is simple enough. There's an alien invasion happening, but nobody is aware of it. The only people who stumble on to the horrible truth are four men (those actors named above) who have recently come together in a newly-formed neighbourhood watch group. Unfortunately, they may not be the best people to deal with the situation, even if they're more up to the task than the main local law enforcement (headed up by Will Forte).

The Watch should have been a lot better than it is. I know that there are people who dislike most of the main stars, but I'm a fan of their work and looked forward to seeing them all having fun together onscreen. Unfortunately, the mix of alien invasion and comedy just doesn't work here. I laughed at a number of scenes, and I enjoyed the last few scenes, but the two main elements of the movie never feel as if they belong beside one another.

Everyone gets to have at least one chance to steal a scene, with Ayoade getting more chances than anyone else, because he's Ayoade (I'm a big fan of his work, in case you couldn't tell). Forte is very funny in his supporting role, Rosemarie DeWitt, Erin Moriarty, Billy Crudup and Jared Stern all cause some stress, in very different ways, for a few of the main characters, and R. Lee Ermey stretches his acting ability by portraying a foul-mouthed old man quick to grab his gun.

The whole movie gets by more on goodwill than anything else, but the script by Jared Stern, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg manages to set up a solid enough foundation for the main performers to have fun on, which allows for the film to be liked or loathed in equal measure, depending on your taste.

Many will view the fact that I liked it as just another example of how bad my taste can be.

6/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Watch-Blu-ray-UV-Copy/dp/B006DZY6Z6/ref=sr_1_2?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1389128488&sr=1-2&keywords=the+watch

The Sitter (2011)

Jonah Hill plays the worst babysitter ever in this comedy that's a lot lower on laughs than it should be, and certainly pales in comparison to the '80s greatness of Adventures In Babysitting. The script, by Alessandro Tanaka and Brian Gatewood, sets things up well enough, but then derails within the first 15-20 minutes, leaving director David Gordon Green hoping that the cast can salvage something from the situation. They can't.

As a favour for his mother, Noah Griffith (Hill) agrees to babysit three youngsters for an evening. There's young Blithe (Landry Bender), a girl who keeps trying to make herself appear much older than she is. There's Rodrigo (Kevin Hernandez), an angry young man who lies to let out that anger by blowing things up with cherry bombs. Last, but not least, there's Slater (Max Records), who has anxiety and identity issues. As if looking after the three kids wouldn't be enough of a problem on its own, Noah is called by his selfish girlfriend, Marisa (Ari Graynor), and asked if he could kindly pick up some drugs for her and meet her at a cool party. Being the irresponsible sort that he is, Noah takes the kids along while he meets drug dealer Karl (Sam Rockwell) and his right hand man, Julio (J. B. Smoove). And things start to go wrong.

If The Sitter was a completely laugh-free zone, with no potential to be entertaining, then it would be an easier film to dislike and completely dismiss (which is, I'm sure, how some people feel about it anyway), but the irritating thing about it is the uneven tone. Things start off amusingly enough, and it all looks promising as Hill meets the kids and tries to establish his take-no-shit stance from the outset, but then it all just becomes too dark once the kids are dragged along to a "simple" drug deal. From then on, the movie moves from one confrontation to the next, with things getting progressively darker and more violent. This may have been the intention of the writers, and director, but it's not the best outcome for a film marketed as a comedy.

Hill ticks the boxes here, in terms of his comedy style, while the kids are just a bit too angst-ridden and rebellious to be likable, although Bender just about manages to stay sweet while also being a smartass. Graynor is okay, but stuck playing a loathesome character, Rockwell is wonderful as Karl, Smoove is stuck with some of the most unpleasant lines from the script, and Kylie Bunbury brightens up the screen, thanks to the fact that she's allowed to play one of the nicest characters in the movie.

Ultimately, this is a film that's too flippant to be enjoyed as a comedy thriller and too dark to be . . . . . . . . . . . . . . enjoyed as a comedy thriller. There are some moments to enjoy, but they're few and far between.

5/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Sitter-Blu-ray-Jonah-Hill/dp/B004U5BH80/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1389127157&sr=8-2&keywords=the+sitter

21 Jump Street (2012)

It's time for yet another old TV show to be given a comedy makeover as 21 Jump Street hits the big screen and I must start off this review by saying that this is a film once again based on a TV show that I have no knowledge of. Well, I understand that the basic premise revolved around an undercover police unit working at a school but beyond that I know nothing.

The movie starts off in 2005, showing us a couple of very different young men. Schmidt (Jonah Hill) is a loser while Jenko (Channing Tatum) is the handsome, popular guy who makes fun of him. The one thing they have in common is that neither is going to the prom. Move forward a few years and Schmidt and Jenko end up in the same group training for the police. The two men help each other out and become firm friends. Sadly, they don't seem to be very good cops and after messing up their first arrest they are transferred over to the Jump Street project - an undercover operation that will send them back to high school in an attempt to bust a drug ring. Strange as it may seem, in the intervening years the smart and caring kids have become the cool ones and the aggressive rebels aren't so beloved as they once were. Schmidt and Jenko have to struggle to adapt to their new roles but cracking the case must remain at the top of their agenda. Well, that and maybe going to the prom.

Directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, and with a script written by Michael Bacall (based on a story worked out by himself and Jonah Hill), 21 Jump Street has plenty of great one-liners, a few decent comedy action sequences and some obvious but amusing character development.

The real ace up its sleeve, however, is the central pairing of Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill. I have enjoyed the work of both actors in a number of other movies but they play off each other brilliantly here, with Tatum showing a real flair for comedy, and the chemistry between them ensures that this film rattles from start to finish with not one dull moment.

The rest of the cast all do very well, it's just clear that the movie is at its peak when Tatum and Hill are the focus. Brie Larson is cute as Molly - the young lady who catches Schmidt's eye, Dave Franco is very good as Eric (a cool guy but also a main suspect), Rob Riggle is as hilarious as ever in the role of Mr. Walters, Ice Cube is very entertaining as the angry Captain Dickson, Ellie Kemper is very funny as Miss Griggs - distracted by Jenko and there are far too many other names that I could single out for praise if I had the time/space/inclination but just trust me when I say that everyone does a fantastic job. There are also a few great cameos for fans to watch out for so keep your eyes peeled.

To be honest, I didn't expect much from this film. I was hoping for a few laughs but I was worried that it would be yet another comedy with all of the best moments already shown in the trailer. That certainly wasn't the case. It's slick and full of plenty of intelligence working alongside the dumber elements but also, and most importantly, it was laugh out loud funny for most of the runtime. Fans of the original show may not like the fact that it has been given a comedy makeover so do bear that in mind but for everyone else - I suggest giving this one a watch ASAP if you want your funny bone tickled.

9/10

http://www.amazon.com/Jump-Street-UltraViolet-Digital-Blu-ray/dp/B003Y5H5BA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337947019&sr=8-1