What I’m watching: a comedy that could have been much funnier

Date: 6/22/2018

What I’m watching: I needed a big screen comedy and I didn’t get exactly that.

In theaters: Tag

I liked the previews I saw of this buddy comedy depicting a group of fields who started playing a month-long game of tag 30 years ago and have continued it ever since.

The film has a very good cast, including Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner, Ed Helm, Hannibal Burgess and Isla Fisher, and was shot in a proficient manner, but something was missing.

The film, based on a true story, centers on the idea there is one of the friends who has never been “it.” He has for more than 30 years avoided a tag. He is now getting married and the rest of the group assumes this would be the right time for a final assault.

I understand in this kind of film there has to be two elements besides physical comedy. There has to be some sort of conflict among the friends to add some dramatic weight and there has to be a core of sentimentality.

I had hoped this film would have more in common with the Roadrunner/Wile E. Coyote cartoons – failed attempts after failed attempts quickly spiraling into madness – than with a Lifetime movie about the endurance of true friendship.

While there were physical gags, there just weren’t enough for my taste and they weren’t outrageous enough. There were some decent laughs, but the pacing of the humor wasn’t fast enough for my taste.

I began daydreaming at one point how Jackie Chan would have handled the material or if Buster Keaton could have done it better – why yes, he could have. Keaton was a master of the physical gag with the underdog hero that has audiences cheering for him.

Jeremy Renner played Jerry, the man who can’t be tagged, and a key part of his characterization is simply being a condescending jerk. I suppose that is to motivate the audience’s sympathy with the rest of the crew, but all it did for me was to make me wonder why the guys even included him in this game. He’s not much fun.

Although I can’t imagine it why anyone would make a sequel, there was buzz from some of the cast members about who they would like to see cast in “Tag 2.” I think someone is counting their chickens before they are hatched.

Haven’t finished it yet, but wanted to alert you to a Netflix offering:

I’m a huge fan of German director Fritz Lang, who excelled in dark dramas. A friend of mine turned me onto “Berlin Babylon,” which is on Netflix and I’m hooked. It’s like watching a classic Lang crime drama, only in color and with a sexual undertone that Lang doesn’t have to hide.

Our hero, Police Commissioner Gereon Rath has been transferred from Cologne to Berlin.  It’s 1928 and Rath is investigating a pornography ring that has deep conspiratorial roots. To make matters worse, a group of Soviet rebels is planning an attack on the city.

To be clear, if this was a movie it would definitely be rated “R.”

I’ll let you know if I like the production as mush at the end as I do at the beginning.