319. Tag; movie review

TAG
Cert 15
100 mins
BBFC advice: Contains strong language, sex references, drug misuse

When we were kids we played football in the street, used lamp posts as cricket wickets and loved games of hide and seek and tag.
They were different times - traffic wasn't the single biggest killer of children and, during the day, suburban streets were deserted.
Hide and seek could last for hours because alleyways weren't sealed off and you could hide in neighbours' gardens because they encouraged children playing.
Meanwhile, tag was usually reserved for the school playground. I was hopeless because I wasn't very quick. Nope, sprinting has never been my forte.
That means I would have been a very poor player in the 23-year-old game which has been taking place in Spokane in the United States.
Yes, apparently a gang of mates have been playing Tag for more than two decades and come up with all sorts of crazy capers to try to make each other 'it'.
Their fun is the basis for Jeff Tomsic's comedy, starring Jeremy Renner as a fleet-footed obsessive who has never been tagged.
Not so hot on his heels are his friends (Ed Helms, Hannibal Buress, Jon Hamm and Jake Johnson) and Helms' on-screen wife (Isla Fisher) who is desperate to take part.
It transpires that the Tag game takes place over the month of May (the real game is in February) during which the wedding of Renner's character, Jerry is due to take place.
Before watching Tag, I didn't realise it was a true story and, ironically, found its premise more than a bit daft.
After all, who could imagine middle-aged men dressing up as old women, invading business meetings or even turning up at family funerals to make a tag possible?
But there is a different perspective now I know these things really happened.
Nevertheless, my problem with the movie is that it isn't nearly as funny as its premise. Indeed, it struck me as a little bit sad.
Perhaps, I was having a humour bypass or perhaps I have seen the Ed Helms comedy routine too many times.
It is worth sticking around for the cast's version of Test Crash Dummies' Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm in the closing credits, though.

Reasons to watch: Bizarre true story
Reasons to avoid: Not very funny

Laughs: A couple of chuckles
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 6.5/10

Director quote - Jeff Tomsic: "The concept alone is so, on the surface, idiotic that it’s hard to believe. One of the things we didn’t include is that one of the real guys is a Catholic priest, and he still plays the game every year for a month."

The big question - Do kids still play Tag?

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