Tag

First Hit: Funny moments but it also felt like it was pressing for the laughs.

At the end of the film there’s shot of an old Wall Street Journal article showing about 10 men who were the subject of a story about a group of guys keeping a game of tag going for many years. This was the premise and storyline for this film.

The idea of a group of guys playing the game of tag into their 30’s and 40’s has a nice ring to it. It is easy to see that this game, which the group started playing when they were young boys, is a way for them to stay connected to each other.

The film touches on this, but sometimes, a bit too cavalierly and tries to go for the laugh and not a deeper story. My sense was that this game between these men, besides being fun, grounded them in their roots and where they came from. Having just gone to my 50th high school reunion, it was interesting to hear stories of my old class mates and what their path had been. I’ve been fortunate to have been able to keep two friendships together for over 55 years, and it’s been nice to connect with them every few months and to have been part of their lives.

Here we have Hogan “Hoagie” Malloy (Ed Helms), Reggie (LilRei Howery), Bob Callahan (Jon Hamm), Randy “Chilli” Cillano (Jake Johnson), and Jerry Pierce (Jeremy Renner) as five friends who have played tag together since they were young boys. As they got older, they set aside the month of May as tag month. Anytime during this month, the person who is “it”, can and will find one of the other guys and tag him. At the end of the month, the game ends for another eleven months.

The hook this film uses was that Jerry had never been tagged. Somehow, for more than twenty years, he’s been able to avoid being “it.” Hoagie learns that Jerry is getting married in May and thinks this will be the opportune time to tag him. He rounds up the rest of the gang to plot this once in a lifetime score.

The opening scene has Hoagie getting hired as a janitor in Bob’s company, so that he can surprise Bob, tag him, and then enlist him in the effort to get Jerry. This is how the storyline gets the Wall Street Journal involved because at the time Hoagie tags Bob, he’s being interviewed by Rebecca Crosby (Annabelle Wallis) who is a journalist interviewing Bob about his company.

There are funny scenes as this small group join forces to get Jerry, but the over the top performance goes to Anna Malloy (Isla Fisher), Hoagie’s wife. She is intense and focused to help Hoagie’s dream come true, getting Jerry. There is a reason for this and you’ll have to see the film to know why.

Helms is good as the guy who instigates the plan to get Jerry tagged. Howery was strong as one of the members who had his own way of participating. Hamm was very good as the successful business professional who sets aside his business for the sake of the game. Johnson’s role was a little off for me. I didn’t see the reason to have someone whose ideal life was being high on pot as a good plot device. Renner was excellent as Jerry. His intense and intelligent actions were good for this story. Wallis was OK as the Wall Street Journal reporter following the story. Fisher was perfect as the over the top wife willing to make the game happen for her husband and herself. Rob McKittrick and Mark Stellen wrote an OK screenplay, although I think it needed to not focus on generating a laugh. It could have been funny without resorting to physical site gags. Jeff Tomsic directed this film and would have done better to redirect the emphasis towards the friendship between these men.

Overall: I enjoyed the film but would  have rather had a more engaged full story.

The Mummy

First Hit:  Starts off okay, but falls off quickly into a waste of film and time.

Tom Cruise (here as Nick Morton) gives his all in everything he does. In some films like Risky Business, Top Gun, and A Few Good Men, it is more than enough and strong but you still know it is Tom Cruise.

The difference between those films and this one is they had good and believable stories. This story fails early on. The idea that Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella), an Egyptian princess, decided to embrace the dark side and be all powerful when her legacy is taken away from her because of the birth of a male child, was rather thin. Then to make the story interesting, because of her new-found power, she was killed and was buried in Mesopotamia. The fear of her power required that she be interned in a tomb filled with mercury to keep her powers deplete. This made the reach too far to be believable. In fact the finders of the tomb said it was far fetched that there was an Egyptian tomb in Mesopotamia.

The story has Nick and his side-kick Chris Vail (Jake Johnson) being artifact hunters who illegally sell what they find. Nick steals a map of an artifact site from Jenny Halsey (Annabelle Wallis) and accidently finds the sarcophagus with Ahmanet.

Until this point the film is tolerable. But after the plane, which is transporting the tomb to London, falls out of the sky and Nick survives without a scratch, the film really reaches into the bag of unbelievability.  And it's at this point we get that Nick is part of Ahmanet’s plan to destroy the world.

The visuals are good and there was no expense spared in making the visuals work, however, for me Ahmanet’s costume failed. She’s supposed to be wrapped in mummy cloth strips, but the outline of her underwear was too obvious. Additionally, I don’t think any of the body markings on her face or body added anything to her role.

Cruise, as I’ve said in other film reviews with Tom Cruise as the star, is simply Tom Cruise in a role. He never embodies a character and becomes the character, he is Tom Cruise as a character. Boutella was okay. I didn’t think the double eye irises added anything of interest. Of course, with four irises, I don’t know how she could see. Johnson was okay as the side kick, but as a zombie, it didn’t work. Wallis was the best part of the film. She came across as smart and in control of her role. David Koepp and Christopher McQuarrie wrote a far-fetched screenplay. Alex Kurtzman did an okay job of directing the actors. That the story was mediocre and that Cruise will go all out making sure we know it is Tom Cruise acting a role, made his job harder.

Overall: Another waste of time watching an expensive blockbuster.

Drinking Buddies

First Hit:  Better than expected film about an alcoholic comfort zone and relationships.

Kate (Olivia Wilde) likes her independence. She chooses when to see and have sex with her boyfriend Chris (Ron Livingston). She works at a brewery with Luke (Jake Johnson) with whom she has a close, flirty drinking relationship.

Luke is obviously attracted to the beautiful Kate but also has stable, grounded, thoughtful girlfriend named Jill, (Anna Kendrick). Immediately the story lets you know that Luke doesn’t want a lot of responsibility, lives in Jill’s home and likes the laid back boozy life of making beer, drinking any time at work and after work with Kate and their work mates.

Jill is a responsible teacher, wants a long term plan, marriage, and a family. Kate is lost and although we never get why she is so afraid to commit to Chris or any one, Wilde makes the audience want her character to find happiness.

Chris, with limited screen time makes his presence known that he’s looking or more than a boozy late night booty call. The lynch pin of the film is a 2 day trip the four of them take together to a mountain cabin, where it becomes obvious who is better matched to whom.

The obvious issue of functional alcoholism is never addressed directly, but we see where it is going although the protagonist may or may not.

Wilde is excellent at being the beautiful girl who is afraid to commit personally. Livingston, makes his presence known in his few pointed scenes - good job. Johnson is superb at being the laid back, nice guy, and friend to all while being a functional alcoholic. His verbal manipulation not only tricks others but belies himself as well. Kendrick, is very good as the controlled woman, who has a plan for her life and seems to love Luke for all the wrong reasons. Joe Swanberg wrote and directed this film. He’s writing is spot on for the characters although they might be too clearly defined, he cannot be faulted for this. His direction and scenes are set up well and work really well.

Overall:  A surprisingly enjoyable and thoughtful film.