Cult TV show makes odd jump to big screen
Comedy remake of Depp drama tops list of next week’s releases
Movies
Big release: 21 Jump Street (Friday, March 16)
Big picture: A slimmed-down Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum (Yes, AGAIN; apparently, there are no other actors working in Hollywood at the moment) star in this comedy about a pair of mediocre cops who go undercover at a high school to bring down a drug ring. It’s very loosely based on the TV drama of the same name that starred Johnny Depp; expect humour that sounds canned at the Judd Apatow laugh factory. While Hill can pass for a high-school student, Tatum looks more like the jock who has repeated Grade 12 — for the 10th time.
Forecast: 21 Jump Street without Depp (although he has a cameo) in the lead feels like a fish out of water — or Charlie Sheen out of cocaine, i.e., just plain wrong. It seems an odd decision to turn a cult TV drama into a big-screen comedy.
But if movie audiences can forget — or are oblivious to — the original, they can just focus on enjoying the laughs. With a supporting cast that includes Nick Offerman ( Parks and
Recreation), Ellie Kemper ( Bridesmaids) and Chris Parnell ( Saturday
Night Live, 30 Rock), those should
not be scarce.
Honourable Mention: Jeff, Who
Lives at Home (Friday). You can’t go wrong in the comedy department by pairing up Jason Segel ( How I Met Your Mother) with Ed Helms ( The Office, The Hangover). Segel plays Jeff, a pot-smoking slacker living in his mom’s basement; Helms plays his conservative brother, who comes to Jeff for help and lures him into the real world. Susan Sarandon plays their mom.
TV
Big event: Missing (Thursday,
CTV/ABC)
Big picture: It’s Bourne meets 24 meets Ashley Judd’s undeniable charm. Judd plays Becca Winstone, a former deadly CIA operative — just once, can’t a CIA operative be described as cuddly and harmless? — who gave up her career for motherhood. When her son goes missing in Italy under mysterious circumstances, she embarks on a dangerous hunt for the truth, and reaches into her old bag of spy tricks, i.e., blowing a lot of things up and/or beating a lot of people up. Sean Bean ( Game of Thrones) plays Judd’s husband, another CIA agent who was murdered years ago. (His death may be linked to her son’s fate.)
Forecast: Tune in if you want to watch Judd take a page from Jack Bauer, and break every rule in the criminal code, to find her son — and leave a lot of bruised and battered bodies in her wake. (For the record, I’d much rather be tortured by Ashley Judd than Kiefer Sutherland.)
Honourable mentions: The Big Decision (Monday, CBC) It’s The Apprentice meets Dragons’ Den — only, minus the washed-up celebrities and Donald Trump’s oversized ego. Dragons Jim Treliving and Arlene Dickinson launch a five-part series in which they help struggling Canadian businesses in need of guidance and money. Those who heed their ad- vice could get a cash injection. Two businesses are profiled per episode. Treliving and Dickinson can invest in one, both, or neither.
Music
Big release on Tuesday: Meat Loaf
( Hell in a Handbasket)
Big picture: The world truly is going to hell in a handbasket when Public Enemy’s Chuck D is guestrapping on a Meat Loaf song. Patti Russo, who joined the singer on his hit, I Would Do Anything for Love, returns for a couple of duets in his latest effort. The album also features a guest rap by Lil Jon, The Loaf’s fellow
Celebrity Apprentice contestant. It’s hard not to have a soft spot for Meat Loaf, who recently told Short
List Magazine he once confused a ghost with a groupie, and said he has conversed with the dead: “I’ve seen them, I’ve been around them. Some are just energy left behind, and some are intelligent. I’ve had conversations with them using a K2 meter, which lets them answer ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ ” Then there’s the new Digital Spy interview, in which Meat Loaf said, “I’m like Popeye the Sailor Man.” (For once, there is zero need for me to add any sarcastic comments.)
Forecast: If you’re a Meat Loaf fan, you’ll find a lot to like in this mix of originals and covers, including a bloated — and oddly endearing — cover of California Dreamin’.