![]() Now, five years after a front-page story in the Wall Street Journal brought worldwide notice to the “Tag Brothers,” the exploits of Father Raftis and his friends have been transformed by Hollywood into “Tag,” with an all-star cast that includes Jeremy Renner, Ed Helms, Jon Hamm, Jake Johnson and Hannibal Buress. The 10 friends have been doing it annually for 28 years, having bound themselves to a “Tag Participation Agreement” drawn up by a lawyer among them. Make no mistake, this isn’t mere playground tag but a grown-up version, with no tagbacks and no geographical boundaries. But it also is not the most memorable comedy experience of the year.On the surface, my longtime friend Father Sean Raftis appears to be a mild-mannered small-town Montana pastor.īut every February, he and nine of his former schoolmates from Gonzaga Preparatory School in Spokane, Washington, do something extraordinary - so extraordinary, in fact, that it has inspired a new major motion picture. ![]() For what it is, it is harmless fun, and it is hard to envision this premise being any more effective in the hands of other actors and filmmakers. Tag is a light, high concept comedy with a loose script and charismatic actors who are playfully working to hide the looseness. But ultimately the silliness of the premise is not as infectious to the audience as it is to the characters on screen. Director Jeff Tomsic, who has directed numerous stand up specials, does a great job at dressing up the set pieces to feel more energetic than merely that. ![]() Johnson’s persona is humorous, but it becomes overbearing over time.Īs the film progresses, and the punchlines read less and less consistent, it becomes apparent that you are watching a film about grown men literally running in circles. Buress has a few lines that are delivered with his perfect deadpan, but they are often too non-sequitur to function smoothly within a scene. To put it bluntly, there are only four or five lines of dialogue that elicit full-on laughter. The dialogue, on the other hand, is clunky. Set pieces are staged in visually dynamic ways, at least relative to other comedy films, which allows for a simple game of tag to read more like a chess match. The comedy is turbulent, but the action is cleverly planned. When the tagging starts, it often devolves into slap fights, sack taps, and butt punching (which are all legal maneuvers in the game’s bylaws).įor a movie with a one-track mind about a rather banal game, Tag is brisk through and through. Hamm’s Bob Callahan may wear the suit and stern face of a Fortune 500 executive, but he is quick to get in bickering matches with the constantly smoking “Chilli” Chilliano. Helm’s Hoagie wears a pleased grin as he continually explains that the game keeps them young at heart and, more importantly, keeps them together. And the characters in the film wear their juvenility as a badge of honor. This year, however, he’s getting married, and the other players are teaming up to finally make him “it.” One is a self-professed paranoid man who also happens to take everything that comes at him with the chill demeanor of a Hannibal Buress (Hannibal Buress).Īnd one is a fitness guru who has never been tagged in the 30 year history of their game (Jeremy Renner). One is so dedicated to the game that he gets employed as a janitor just to instigate a tag (Ed Helms). One is an unemployed stoner (Jake Johnson). Based on a real-life Wall Street Journal article, the film follows an annual game of tag played by a group of five grown men. It is quite sincerely about this, and nothing else.
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