When I first heard about Warner Brothers’ new comedy TAG, the words “lame movie concept” came to mind…
Why would big screen talent like Ed Helms, Jon Hamm, Isla Fisher and especially Jeremy Renner attach themselves to this movie if there wasn’t something there?
But that the movie was “inspired by a true story” (which was profiled five years ago in The Wall Street Journal) was reason enough to attend a preview screening of the comedy.
That said, exactly what IS the concept here?
Pretty well what you’d expect. The old game of playing Tag. It’s probably something YOU did as a kid.
And that’s what these five buddies did when they were kids too.
Except now it’s decades later. They’re all in their 50’s—-AND THEY’RE STILL DOING IT!
So once every February it’s game’s on as they track each other down nationwide for real balls-to-the-wall perfected game-play where anything goes—risking their necks, jobs and relationships in the process.
“There are no winners. Just losers.”
The most elusive of the bunch is Renner’s character, considered king of the game.
He’s never been tagged in 30 years!
Question is, will he survive given what the guys have in store for him this time around….at his wedding, no less!
That’s what’s awaiting you in this (often silly) slapstick flick.
And just in case you don’t get my drift, let me share the New World Dictionary definition of slapstick:
“Crude comedy in which the humor depends upon violent activity, horseplay, etc.”
That pretty well defines TAG! Or as the players put it, “You’re It!”
Did I laugh at some of the fast-paced hijinks? Sure I did. But with a relatively short running time of right around 100 minutes it sure seemed longer. Way longer.
So let me TAG you with MY grade. It’s a B-
JACK GOES TO THE MOVIES Fridays during Kansas City’s Morning News on 98.1 FM, KMBZ.
