Channing Tatum; Comedy's hidden Gem?

Channing Tatum; Comedy’s hidden Gem?

 

When you expect a film to be good and it is good, you’re satisfied. However, when you expect a film to be average at best and the film turns out to be better than you ever expected, not only do you appreciate the quality of the film, but you enjoy it even more. 

This feeling occurred for me on Friday night when I watched the new Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum movie, 21 Jump Street. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I expected Jump Street to be terrible, I just didn’t expect it to be any good. 

So you can imagine my utter joy, when I sat there laughing my metaphorical ass off throughout the whole movie. Jump Street is a genuinely funny movie with plenty of laughs throughout. What’s more, the story is pretty heartfelt as well, with Hill and Tatum’s characters able to play with the heartstrings almost at their will. 

Now this wasn’t the only surprise I encountered whilst watching the film. Watching a comedy you expect the natural comedian to be the star of the show. This philosophy almost never fails. However, it does for Jump Street. Tatum’s loveable but dim Jenko outshines Hill’s nerdy and bright Schmidt in pretty much every scene together. 

Hill still has his laughs, but there not good as frequent or as good as Tatum’s, who really hits Jump Street out of the park, comically. Tatum plays Jenko relatively straight, which adds to the character’s charm. What’s more, his comic timing in this movie is exceptional and surpasses that of comedians almost ten years his senior. 

Tatum’s performance in Jump Street really got me thinking. Because, this isn’t the first comedy I have seen where Tatum outshines experienced comedians. Tatum is probably the only good thing about the Vince Vaughn and Kevin James Rom-Com The Dilemma. Vince and Kev in that film phone in unenthused comic performances, which are surpassed by Tatum’s psycho lover Zip. 

With these two performances in mind, it got me thinking that Tatum may be a comedian after all. OK, so he doesn’t look like your natural comedian. Built like a brick Sh1t house and incredibly good looking (nohomo). Tatum’s build definitely suggests one of either an action hero or a Romantic lead, which are the roles that he has plaid. 

However, Tatum hasn’t really knocked a performance like that out of the park. OK, he’s been tolerable in some of these roles, but nothing special. Making, Jump Street easily Tatum’s most enjoyable performance to date. This makes me believe that there may be a new Comic in town, and not one you’d expect. 

Until next time, enjoy the show. 

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Daniel Morris.