Tag: Hannibal Buress

Enough with the frivolity down at the multiplex, we’ve got another film opening this week that was “inspired by true events”. Seriously (usually very very), they’re stories of triumph against the elements (as with the recent ADRIFT) or bravery in the face of injury or disease (BREATHE, STRONGER, and countless others). Just a minute, you’ve seen the TV ads and trailers for the last few months so you know it’s a comedy. Now that’s a real rarity, little seen hybrid mix, like the “jackalope”. Needles to say it’s been somewhat exaggerated or enhanced for the big screen. The reports of a pack (around a dozen) of buddies now in middle age (being generous here) who have set aside one month every year to continue a game of tag started while they were in grade school (so we could say it’s based on a classic game like CLUE or BATTLESHIP, but there’s no boards or dice involved, just hands and legs) has seen exposure in print and on the TV news (CBS Sunday Morning just rebroadcast their profile). For the flick they’ve cut back the squad to five and they guys are trim and in their early forties (and of course, a couple of them are extremely photogenic). Oh, and the game is much more violent (slapstick, you could say), because audiences would expect that for an “R” rated game of TAG.

In the movie’s opening moments we see the elaborate planning of “tag” player “Hoagie” Malloy (Ed Helms) to deliver the “touch” to business tycoon Bob Callahan (Jon Hamm). Bob becomes “it” just as he’s beginning an interview with a reporter from the Wall Street Journal, Rebecca (Annabelle Wallis). She’s intruiged by the ensuing chaos, so the guys explain. Every year, during the month of May, they continue a game of tag begun in their youth. Of course you can’t tag back the guy that just made you “it”. And the fella’ that’s it at the end of those 31 days is the loser (nope, no real winner). This time Hoagie has a master plan to finally make one of their pals “it”. Jerry (Jeremy Renner) has successfully stayed hidden in May (and he’s super fast, too). Seems that Jerry’s getting hitched on the last day of the month in Portland. As Jake Blues would say, “It’s time to get the band back together”. This all seems much more interesting to Rebecca than an interview, so she tags along. But she’s not the only lady, since Hoagie’s wife Anna (Isla Fisher), though not a player, is psyched to help track down their “white whale”. Soon their two other buddies, laid-back herbal enthusiast Randy AKA Chilli (Jake Johnson) and quirky, soft-spoken Sable (Hannibal Buress) join the journey. Their first run at Jerry is disrupted by his nervous fiancee Susan (Leslie Bibb), She’s scared that they will ruin her big weekend. During a truce they set up new ground rules: no tag at the wedding rehearsal, the following dinner/reception, or at the actual ceremony. They all agree, though Hoagie and his crew continue their efforts to get Jerry alone and end his streak and finally make his “it”.

The cast is an interesting mix of comedy TV vets, stand-up comedians, and even an action flick staple. The leader of the mayhem is probably Helms’s Hoagie, who’s doing a less awkward take on his HANGOVER patsy while bringing lots of energy and a demented zeal to his quest. Hoagie’s likable, but completely hyper-focused on his “Jerry hunt”. Almost matching him in his mania is Fisher as wife Anna, whose fiery spirit matches her hair color. Though unable to tag, she’s a valuable addition the the guys’ mission. And Fisher is a most delightful “firecracker”. Plus she gets to team up with a co-star from the 2016 underrated farce KEEPING UP WITH THE JONESES, Jon Hamm, who once again plays against his leading man looks to display his formidable comic skills and getting more physical via the great slapstick sequences. Buress can still steal scenes with his off-kilter line delivery, seeming to “toss off” killer quips. Johnson’s also great with a snarky joke, given with a laid-back wiseguy charm. Unfortunately the constant “weed” bits wear out and become an easy laugh or a scene ender with CGI smoke wafting from his lips. The best surprise may be the work of Renner, doing an inspired parody of his action movie roles from THE BOURNE LEGACY and Hawkeye in the Marvel movies. Jerry has a soft side, but Renner plays him as a closed book for much of the action, preferring to be the smug “man in control”. This makes for an odd pairing with Bibb as his future bride. Susan often comes off as a shrill “fun-killer” and her manic “bride-zilla” can be a bit “over the top”, but Bibb truly commits in her performance. That role is more compelling than Rebecca, who’s mostly the wide-eyed observer and “voice of reason”, but kudos to the striking Wallis for bouncing back from last year’s twins of trash, THE MUMMY and KING ARTHUR: LEGEND OF THE SWORD. Also representing the ladies is Rashida Jones, the talented star of TV’s “Angie Tribeca” and “Parks and Recreations”, who is underused as the former high school sweetheart of two of the guys (invited by Jerry to split the team). Her character is the source of a particularly crude joke about their teen years. Jones deserves better. But there are some nice turns by stand-ups Sebastian Maniscalo and LilRel Howery (so hilarious in GET OUT), along with comic actors Steve Berg (he really wants in the game), SNL vet Nora Dunn, and Thomas Middleditch (love that fabulous ponytail) from HBO’s “Silicon Valey”.

First time feature director Jeff Tomsic does his best work in the movie’s “game” scenes, using the “slow-mo, speed-up, then quick back to slow” effect in some many action flicks, enhanced with some CGI for the facial impacts. This also gives us time to hear the characters’ thoughts as they try to avoid being “it”. But it’s more Three Stooges-style violence were they might only need an aspirin rather than a trip to the ER. Unfortunately Tomsic couldn’t smooth out some of the kinks of the hit-and-miss script this is indeed based on a Wall Street Journal article (written by a dude, though). In one third act plot point a phrase describing a “pregnancy mishap” is repeated so much, that it becomes distasteful, annoying, and insensitive (every mention was fingernails on a chalkboard). But the biggest problem may be the lack of chemistry between the actors. They don’t seem like guys that would still want to hang out for a full month year after year. The hospital-set finale with one player in dire straights feels like a forced attempt at pathos and comes off as clunky. Luckily the flick cuts to a wonderful montage that succeeds in giving viewers the ole “warm fuzzies”. But this and the action sequences aren’t quite enough elevate TAG above its schoolyard roots. Dodgeball, it ain’t.

3 Out of 5