Columbia Pictures
110 min., dir. by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, with Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, and Brie Larson

Trying to drudge up an actual memory of “21 Jump Street” is difficult. I remember watching the show, but have no vivid memories of any specifics. If the same rings true for others, than this film has a blank slate to work with. Bringing the premise of young cops going undercover at a high school from the ’80s to the present, 21 Jump Street throws everything out there trying to garner some laughs. Surprisingly, it works well at times — it just takes time getting there.

Polar opposites in high school, Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) find a common group when they both sign up for the police force. Schmidt helps Jenko with his book smarts and Jenko oversees the fitness department. When they bumble their first bust as real cops, they’re sent to the Jump Street division. As described in the film, “Jump Street” was an old program from the ’80s that didn’t work then yet was being bought back for no good reason, placing young-looking cops into local high schools to perform undercover work. Taking the opportunity as a chance to be the cool kids (once again for Jenko), the two discover that in six short years, things have changed quite a bit.

The first 30 minutes of the film is dedicated to making allusions to the fact that the film is a remake of an ’80s program. If rehashing yet another cult TV show didn’t catch the ire of the public already, making jokes about it adds layers to how trite the entire idea is. It leaves a bitter taste in your mouth and creates a level of dread that the whole movie will follow this formula. Never fully fading away, the constant references finally gain some momentum once the story gets under way.

The script was penned by Michael Bacall, who seems to have his finger on the pulse of teen humor (he co-wrote Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World and Project X), so it makes sense that this would work. The problem is, I can’t really tell you why it works. Hill and Tatum work well together, and Ice Cube is fun as the clichéd, overbearing captain who doesn’t know how not to yell. There are plenty of cameos from the original “21 Jump Street,” as well as numerous other familiar faces.

Even when I was laughing, something in my head said, “This is bad,” but I was somehow still interested and committed to what played out. Like the drug our heroes are cracking down on, 21 Jump Street pulls you in and makes you giggle for no good reason. You have to wait it out, but 21 Jump Street becomes a nice stash of mindless fun. Maybe if they pulled back a bit on the over-used references, it could have been a well of laughs, but alas, it never makes it all the way there.