Childhood Games Never Looked More Fun than in TAG

 

Remember those kids from the neighborhood?  You know the ones that you spent every waking day with over the weekends bike riding all over the city or grabbing a showing of the latest hot flick with or the ones you cried with when that one boy you were completely in love with had his arm around someone else?  Of course you do.

So,  imagine taking one of those games you loved as a kid to a whole new level for more than 30 years? Well, that’s exactly what Shawn, Chris, Brian. and Mike from Spokane, Washington did and it garnered enough national attention to be made into a feature film – TAG.

The guys, who graduated from GPrep in the early 80s, started playing in their senior year. They’d tag each other in the halls between classes and the last guy to be tagged would be “it” until the next day, when the game would renew.

Eventually, the game fizzled after graduation as these men got on with their adult lives all over the country.  But a few years later, the group chatted  over drinks, discussing the idea of reviving their game of tag.

I gotta be honest here, I thought this film was going to be sophisticated fluff at best.  I mean seriously, four grown-ass men living all over the country with kids, wives and careers playing tag?  How funny could this possibly be for two hours?  It was absolutely hilarious!!!!  My cynic side  split from the first laugh to the last!!!  The elaborate schemes devised to pull off these tags were genius at best.

But, the best thing about TAG is the concerted effort of these friends through tag have stayed connected and grown closer over the years.  What a lesson we could all learn in that regard.

Really cute fun fact…Jeremy Renner broke his arm shooting the film doing  stunt playing tag…I know right??!!  The lengths some people will go though to stay undefeated is pure comedy at its best.

The standout for me was Isla Fisher!!! She does such a fantabulous job of being that one chick with a just a little too much testosterone for her own good.

The screenplay written by Mark Steilen, Russell Adams and Rob McKittrick is smart, quick and makes the characters jump out and engage your attention.  Each and everyone will remind you of various childhood buddies and leave you wondering how their lives might have tuned out beyond the playground.

Produced by Warner Bros. PIctures and Broken Road Productions, TAG his theatres on June 15.