February 27th, 2012

Dear Channing Tatum,

Hi! How's it going? I know, a nerd culture blog probably isn't where you were expecting to have an open letter to you, unless it's the typical thing of us shitting all over GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra. But seriously, that's not what I'm writing you about, Mr. Tatum. (Channing? C-Tate? Whichever you prefer)

C-Tate, there are moments in life which we regret. Maybe we don't necessarily regret them at the time, but they come back to haunt us. Lost loves, crucial decisions which we wish we could have reversed, moments in life that you are left wishing that hadn't gone the way they did. Today, sir, I am full of regret. I would like to formally apologize to you, with the ones of readers I have as witnesses.

See, Channum, I had said some pretty damn awful things about you. In fact, my friends could quote a number of occasions where I described you as "glorified set dressing" and argued that the only reason why you get the work you do is because "you don't pay tables millions of dollars to be on set, do you?!" And hey, I think we can be honest here - a lot of your filmography to date supports that theory. They just let you be a pair of eyes and muscles for romance to be built upon, while you dance and pardon the pun, Step Up for the ladies.

That said, I just got home from a screening of your next big movie, a remake/recreation/sequel? to the 1980's Fox TV series 21 Jump Street, and well, I need to take back every single bad thing I've ever said about you.

Not that I need to worry about spoilers for the movie (you've already lived it!), but seriously, what an absolute joy. I have to admit, the trailers were downright awful. If I were you? I'd straight up squish the guy who made those trailers. They make your flick look BAAAAD. And I really was skeptical about an admittingly weak TV show being turned into a movie, but luckily, the script even seems to understand how bad an idea going back and rehashing that idea is. From that single moment, I realized you and everyone else associated with the film were going for something really fun here, and what a blast it is.

You're surrounded by a hell of a comedic supporting cast - Elle Kemper from The Office, Rob Riggle in a great role, Chris Flippin' Parnell, heck, you guys even seemed to get Ice Cube to remember how awesome he is. I realize, as the Scott Pilgrim nerd, I have to point out the appearance of Envy Adams herself, Brie Larson - but her performance was so good, I'm not just fanboying over her! Even if the movie completely justifies crushing on her! Heck, you even got a guy who I was PRETTY SURE was James Franco's brother, and yes, he TURNED OUT TO BE JAMES FRANCO'S BROTHER!

But the real heart and soul of this movie? You and Jonah Hill. Really, I know a lot of us were worried about skinny Jonah not being funny, but he is HILARIOUS here. But, like I said, the real surprise was YOU! Why the blue hell have you been hiding how goddamned funny you can be? You perfectly subverted every pre-existing idea I had of you, and almost made me fall out of my chair laughing during one scene. Well done.

Sure, I can give a lot of credit to the great script (co-written by Jonah - seriously, scripts this fun, all that weight loss and an Oscar nod? He really made 2011 work for him, didn't he?) or the great direction of Phil Lord and Chris Miller (who did the amazing Clone High, which if you haven't watched, you should, Tatey.) But I honestly feel like this is one of those films which just came together due to great work coming from every single part of the film - script, actors and direction all coming together in a movie which perfectly spoofs buddy cop films and coming of age teen comedies, while being a great film in its own right.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but 21 Jump Street might be one of my favorite comedies of the past few years. I'm that impressed.

Keep up the good work, CT. I'll see you and my boy Dwayne in GI Joe 2 this summer. May it be as awesome as this was.

Your new pal,

-Marty

21 Jump Street hits theaters on March 16th. Go see it. For real.