Tag is a 2018 comedy about a small group of former classmates who organize an elaborate, annual game of tag that requires some to travel all over the country.
Tag funded the cast it needed to produce a hit, but unfortunately it forgot to invest in a decent screenplay. By all means Tag is an enjoyable film that has its moments throughout, but what I was hoping would be a laugh out loud comedy winds up producing only a few chuckles here or there. The writing comes off feeling lazy and geared towards a teenage audience.
Tag is about a group of lifelong friends that started a game of tag when they were 9, and it’s continued every May ever since. It’s gone on through virginity being lost, children being born, and family members passing. After opening with friends Hogan ‘Hoagie’ Malloy (Ed Helms), Bob Callahan (Jon Hamm), Randy ‘Chilli’ Cilliano (Jake Johnson) and Kevin Sable (Hannibal Buress) kicking off their annual game of tag, they head back to their hometown of Spokane, WA to surprise the other member, Jerry Price (Jeremy Renner), during his wedding weekend. Hoagie lets the gang know that it’s Jerry’s last year in the game, so they need to work together to get him since he’s never been tagged. Meanwhile, Wall Street Journal reporter, Rebecca Crosby (Annabelle Wallis), is following the gang around to do an article about their annual game and lifelong friendship.
Once the gang gets back to Spokane, they immediately begin their plan to takedown Jerry. Due to it being his wedding weekend, they wind up making a pact with him that certain wedding activities are off limits, and they have to ensure that they don’t ruin the weekend for the bride-to-be, Susan Rollins (Leslie Bibb). From here, there are attempts to tag Jerry while in disguise, the second the rehearsal dinner ends, at an AA meeting, and so forth. The film comes to a conclusion with a surprisingly emotional ending that catches the whole gang off guard.
What’s nice about Tag is that it’s one of those movies where you have no problem sitting through it because it isn’t overly long and keeps a good pace. One of my biggest gripes about Wedding Crashers is that there is a huge dip at the end where the movie gets depressing and drags until Will Ferrell revives it. That is not the case at all with Tag. There are a few serious moments throughout, but nothing that truly impacts its flow.
What hurts the most about the movie is that the cast felt wasted. All the required talent was there, but the lines for them to deliver were not. Jake Johnson was pretty much Nick from New Girl, Ed Helms was a mix of all his comedic performances, and Jon Hamm was a cross between Don Draper and Ted from Bridesmaids. Jeremy Renner seemed to enjoy his role as the champion member of the group, even having to act with CGI arms (which are only noticeable while he’s tossing donuts). There was also a fun addition to his character having a Sherlock Holmes-esque breakdown of how to fend off attacking taggers. Despite all these pieces, the lack of hilarious banter results in them not being put to good use.
There were a few parts of the plot that were a little off. Rashida Jones feels like a forced and unnecessary love interest, and the emotional ending is almost out of place. What could’ve been supplemented for either of those was more background into how the game has evolved over the years. They have a list of amendments that they’ve made to the game, but we only get an explanation to one of them. They could’ve added some more parts about the evolution of the game over the years, but instead all we get is a glimpse of the crew playing the game when they were younger. We see virtually all of the background scenes in the trailer for the film.
By no means would I say not to see Tag, but I would advise against paying movie theater prices to do so. I had high hopes that writer Rob McKittrick would bring some of the raucous magic with him that we last saw in his screenplay for Waiting, but it was nowhere to be found. At the movie’s core, however, it has a great message about staying close to friends. As people get older it’s harder stay in touch with friends. People get married, families are started, and you just don’t have the time anymore. I think most would agree that they’d love to have a reason, even if just for one month a year, to stay in touch with their friends. That’s exactly what we get out of Tag.