MORE GOES ON in the newest iteration of 21 Jump Street than car chases, drug busts, and shoot outs.  The show-now-movie has at least two interesting ideas that it plays around with  that struck me as well-handled after viewing.

The first involves Schmidt, played by Jonah Hill.  He’s the guy with the horrible high school social life who gets a second chance to do it right thanks to the Jump Street program.  Schmidt’s moment of truth comes near the end of the movie, when his partner tries to get him to see that he’s gone in “too deep” and lost a sense of his mission.  As a teacher who started out relatively young (mid-to-late twenties), I understand Schmidt’s dilemma . . . and I had a solid high school experience.  Something about the environment that is high school turns things around all weird.  Identifying with students over institution is an easy temptation on the best of days, let alone on the worst of them.

The second idea that the movie works with comes early on in the movie and involves Jenko, played by Channing Tatum.  Jenko is Schmidt’s opposite: great social life in high school but horrible academic career.  And so when he returns to the schoolyard for the first time since graduation, he assumes that the social hierarchy of his framework will still exist: obvious jocks, preps, geeks, etc.  As he crosses the parking lot, though, he starts to realize how utterly different things have become (who knew high schoolers could be both socially conscious and cool?).  Soon Jenko finds himself invested in the science geeks.  And its his alienation from the social system that helps him keep his wits when they are most needed.

It need not be said, but I’ll say it anyway: high school is a strange and funny place, wonderful in its own way.  Whatever else 21 Jump Street does, it definitely captures that love-hate reality.  It’s good when what looks to be a super-shallow comedy actually pulls off such a solid commentary.