21 Jump Street (6/26/2012)

Rated R for crude and sexual content, pervasive language, drug material, teen drinking and some violence.

Starring Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum and Ice Cube

Directed by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller (first feature film)

Thanks Channing Tatum for ruin yet another childhood memory.

In the action-comedy 21 Jump Street, Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) are more than ready to leave their adolescent problems behind. Joining the police force and the secret Jump Street unit, they use their youthful appearances to go undercover in a local high school. As they trade in their guns and badges for backpacks, Schmidt and Jenko risk their lives to investigate a violent and dangerous drug ring. But they find that high school is nothing like they left it just a few years earlier – and neither expects that they will have to confront the terror and anxiety of being a teenager again and all the issues they thought they had left behind.

Yeah, I grew up watching 21 Jump Street on Fox and chances are good that your students have seen or want to see this one.

I used to love the stories of the four cops who went undercover in local high schools to bust drug dealers and kids who sell tests…ok now that I say it out loud maybe it wasn’t that great. But Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill have soiled the fun and fairly innocent show.

I’m not going to spend a lot of time on this one because although there were a few funny scenes, what you need to know is that this movie is really not for kids…although kids are clearly the intended targets.

If you or your kids want to see this one…please “skip it.” (Read the SHOULD KIDS SIEE IT for more of the why you should skip it.)

SHOULD KIDS SEE IT
The short answer is NO. But here is the way. Besides showing some sex and nudity, there is frequent use of crude and descriptive sexual language and strong crude sexual references and innuendo throughout.

Surprisingly there was plenty of violence too. And while the violence in this film is sometimes intense and/or bloody, it never leaves the film’s comedic tone.

There are over 120 F-words and a whole bunch of other inappropriate words.

Conversation Starter

1. Do you think Schmidt and Jenko truly care about each other? Why?


2. Read John 15:13
   There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

   Jenko tells Schmidt that he would take a bullet for him, and later on he proves it. Hopefully you will never have to take a literal bullet for one of your friends, but sometimes we need to take a “bullet” for our friends. What are some “bullets” you have taken for friends?



3. Do you have friends who have taken “bullets” for you?


4. What are some ways we can “lay down our life” for our friends this week?