I'm Worried About the "21 Jump Street" Movie

Viewers of a certain age will remember "21 Jump Street" as the cop show that made Johnny Depp famous. Fewer will remember that the premise of the show, which was one of the early hits of the then-fledgling FOX network in 1987. Depp played Officer Tom Hanson, who ran into trouble on the job in the first episode for his babyface looks. However, they made him a perfect recruit for the Jump Street program, which used young police officers who could pass themselves off as teenagers to go undercover in high schools. Think "The Mod Squad," but taken a step further. "Jump Street" didn't stay in high schools for long, setting episodes on college campuses, military academies, and various other institutions as time went by and the cast got older.

A movie reboot of "21 Jump Street" has been in the works for a while, supposedly being scripted by actor Jonah Hill. I don't believe Jonah Hill has ever written anything, which doesn't bode well for the project. Emma Stone was announced to be in the running to play the female lead, which seemed like a step in the right direction, but now there's rumor going around that Josh Hartnett is being sought for the male lead. Hartnett, who is thirty-two at the time of writing, hasn't credibly portrayed a high school student since the Clinton administration. Does this mean that the original premise of the show is being ditched in favor of more generic action movie cop capers? If so, there's not much that would tie the movie to "21 Jump Street," a possible Johnny Depp cameo notwithstanding. In fact, the more I hear about the new movie, the stranger it gets.

The idea of cops infiltrating high schools was never very plausible, though there were claims that "21 Jump Street" was based on a real unit operating out of Los Angeles in the 80s. With no specifics though, I don't buy it. I don't think today's audiences would buy it either, so we're obviously not going to get a straight adaptation. Hill seems to be developing some sort of comedy-action reinvention. He's mentioned in interviews that he's hoping for an R-rating and "Bad Boys" style action sequences. Maybe it's part of the gag that actors who are obviously too old for the roles are going to be trying to pass themselves off as teenagers. Maybe Hartnett is playing the Jump Street crew's supervising officer, Captain Jenco. The assumption is that Hill is going to be starring in the movie too, and he's not exactly looking youthful these days, so the comedic option is more likely.

But frankly, I'm not thrilled about the new film in any case. I watched "21 Jump Street" reruns growing up when I was at the right age to take some of the public service announcements they ended with to heart. It was the show that introduced me to Johnny Depp, to writers Glen Morgan and James Wong, and to U2 when they lent out their music for one of the later season episodes. It was often silly, unrealistic, and I fully understand why Depp wrangled his way out of his contract after four seasons to go make indie movies with Jim Jarmusch and Lasse Hallstrom. And I understand why his intended replacement, Richard Grieco, also jumped ship for a spinoff series. And yet, "Jump Street" had its heart in the right place. It made no apologies for being aimed squarely at teenagers and taking on material straight out of ABC after school specials.

An R-rated action spectacle that aims to mock the show's 80s milieu and good intentions just depresses me. There was no shortage of the campy, goofily earnest stories that drew so much derision, but people forget that "Jump Street" had its good episodes too. The one with Hanson undercover in juvenile detention was a standout. So was the one about the kid on Death Row. The series had a rare Asian regular, Ioki, who turned out to be a Vietnamese refugee working under a false name. The Christmas episode depicting his escape from Saigon was based on the real-life experience of the actor playing him, Dustin Nguyen. It's not a good feeling to find other people laughing at something that you retain genuine affection for, and though there clearly isn't enough information out right now to be certain about this, I hope that the reboot isn't going to be as mean-spirited and mindless as it sounds right now.

Or this is one fangirl who may have to skip a Johnny Depp movie. That hasn't happened since the Clinton administration either.