21 Jump Street (film)
21 Jump Street is a 2012 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller in their live action directional debuts and written by Jonah Hill and Michael Bacall. The film stars Hill and Channing Tatum in the lead roles.[6] It is an adaptation of the 1987–1991 television series of the same name by Stephen J. Cannell and Patrick Hasburgh. In the film, Schmidt and Jenko are police officers who are forced to relive high school when they are assigned on an undercover mission to pose as high school students in order to prevent the outbreak of a new synthetic drug and arrest its supplier.
21 Jump Street
- Michael Bacall
- Jonah Hill
- Neal H. Moritz
- Stephen J. Cannell[a]
- Jonah Hill
- Channing Tatum
- Brie Larson
- Dave Franco
- Rob Riggle
- Ice Cube
Joel Negron
- Original Film[1]
- SJC Studios[1]
- March 12, 2012 (SXSW)
- March 16, 2012 (United States)
109 minutes[3]
United States
$201.6 million[4]
21 Jump Street premiered in SXSW festival on March 12, 2012 and was theatrically released in the United States on March 16, by Columbia Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). It received positive reviews from critics and grossed $201 million worldwide. A sequel, titled 22 Jump Street, was released on June 13, 2014, and in 2015 a female-led spin-off was in development with main stars cast in 2018 and the first draft completed in 2020.
Plot[edit]
In 2005, unpopular-yet-scholarly student Morton Schmidt and popular-yet-underachieving athlete Greg Jenko miss their school prom, Schmidt being rejected by the girl he was trying to ask to be his date and Jenko being barred from attending due to failing grades. Seven years later, the duo meets again at the police academy and become friends and partners on bicycle patrol. They catch a break when they arrest Domingo, the leader of a one-percenter motorcycle gang, but are forced to release him after they fail to read him his Miranda rights.
The duo is reassigned to a revived scheme from the 1980s, which specializes in infiltrating high schools. Captain Dickson assigns them to contain the spread of a synthetic drug called HFS ("Holy Fucking Shit") at Sagan High School. He gives them new identities and enrolls them as students, giving them class schedules fitting their previous academic performances; Jenko taking mostly arts and humanities, and Schmidt taking mostly science classes, but the duo mixes up their identities. Schmidt gets a lead on HFS from classmate Molly, and he and Jenko meet the school's main dealer, popular student Eric. The two take HFS in front of him to maintain their cover.
Eric takes a liking to Schmidt, who develops a romantic interest in Molly. Jenko becomes friends with the students in his AP Chemistry class and finds himself becoming more interested in geeky hobbies and academic pursuits. Schmidt and Jenko throw a party at Schmidt's parents' house, where they are living during the course of their assignment, and invite Eric. During the party, a fight breaks out between Schmidt, Jenko, and some party crashers from another high school. Schmidt wins the fight, impressing Eric and gaining his trust. Jenko's friends hack Eric's phone to enable them to listen in on his conversations.
The phone hack reveals information about an upcoming meeting between Eric and his supplier. Jenko happens to overhear conversations between Schmidt and Eric, where he catches Schmidt making disparaging comments about him. A rift between the duo grows and their official police work suffers. Schmidt and Jenko later track Eric to a cash transaction with the distributors of HFS—the motorcycle gang from the park—and a chase ensues on the freeway. They return to school, argue, and eventually begin fighting, which disrupts the school play. They are expelled from school and fired from the Jump Street program.
Eric, stressed and terrified, recruits Schmidt and Jenko as security for a deal taking place at the school prom. While dressing for the prom, Schmidt and Jenko rekindle their friendship. At the prom, Schmidt is forced to reveal his identity as a cop, upsetting Molly. When they go to the penthouse, they discover that the supplier is the physical education teacher, Mr. Walters, who created the drug accidentally and started selling it to the students to supplement his teacher's salary and pay alimony to his ex-wife. Having caught Eric smoking marijuana, he was able to persuade him to be his dealer.
The motorcycle gang arrives for the deal, but Molly, high on the HFS, interrupts them and starts arguing with Schmidt. As a result, gang leader Domingo recognizes Schmidt and Jenko and orders his men to kill them. Two of the gang members then reveal themselves to be undercover DEA agents Tom Hanson and Doug Penhall, former members of the 21 Jump Street program. Domingo orders his men to shoot Hanson and Penhall; in the ensuing exchange of gunfire, Hanson and Penhall are both mortally wounded. Mr. Walters and Eric escape with the money and Molly as a hostage; the gang, Schmidt, and Jenko follow close behind. Jenko creates a homemade bomb and uses it to kill the gang. Mr. Walters shoots at Schmidt but Jenko takes the bullet to his arm, sparing Schmidt's life. In response, Schmidt shoots Mr. Walters, unintentionally severing his penis. They arrest Mr. Walters and Eric, successfully reading the former his Miranda rights. Schmidt and Molly share a kiss while Eric and Mr. Walters get arrested.
Both officers are congratulated and reinstated in the Jump Street program as Dickson gives them a new assignment: infiltrating a college.