Review: Tag

Directed by: Jeff Tomsic

Written by: Rob McKittrick & Mark Steilen

Starring: Ed Helms, Jake Johnson, Annabelle Wallis, Hannibal Buress, Isla Fisher, Rashida Jones

Rating: [3.5/5]

Keeping one’s childlike sense of excitement for the little things in life keeps us young. Something invigorating and enjoyable in a world filled with so much cynicism. This negativity allows for a scoff at the premise of Tag but through its comedy and central story, it makes for such a raucously good time digging a bit deeper when exploring the relationships between the group of characters. 

Since 1983, a group of friends has engaged in a game of tag each May, with Jerry (Jeremy Renner) having the illustrious record of never being tagged. With his upcoming wedding, Jerry decides to retire from the game making this last go-around of Tag one where the others decide they must get tag him before it’s all done. 

Inspired by a very real group of friends who have engaged in this game of tag for decades, Tag displays quite the game and exhibits the elaborate way each of them takes it quite seriously. Right from the onset we have a scene where these individuals will do pretty much everything in order to tag their friend, which includes infiltrating their workplace. An elaborateness where they are willing to travel cross-country in order to get their guy. Having this center around a game everyone has pretty much played in their lives from the youngest of ages brings some sweetness to the story. It’s a game I play with my nephew and nieces all of the time as early as they could run. Having this occur with men in their 40s thus makes it quite comedic. 

The degree to which they take this so seriously brings humor to this story as we see just how others react to the ridiculous lengths they go to. We mostly get this through the audience surrogate, Wall Street Journal reporter Rebecca (Annabelle Wallis). She initially gets tasked with interviewing Bob (John Hamm) for an article about him professionally but once she encounters one of the tag acts by another member of the group she becomes quite intrigued with the entire tradition. We see the ridiculousness right through with her as all of the friends gather together making for quite an intriguing wedding. 

Tagging Jerry remains the ultimate goal, therefore the film exhibits the majority of them forming an alliance to get him at all costs, which leads to some fairly wild scenes once again showing the lengths they would go to. On multiple occasions, this feature answers the question of just how far these individuals would go in order to tag Jerry and after watching the entire film, one could make the case they go entirely too far but that’s a case-by-case basis to navigate as they experience where the film goes. In their attempts to get Jerry, we see exactly what makes him so difficult to get, seeing as the guy essentially demonstrates the same capabilities of maneuvering as Robert Downey Jr. in Sherlock Holmes making for some hilarious scenes of how he embarrasses them. 

Amid all of the comedy and hijinks going on in this feature, the connection this game has maintained between the characters does allow for something quite touching about what this all represents to them. As childish as it appears on the surface as others watch them partake in this game well into adulthood, this has maintained their friendship for decades now almost serving as an excuse for them to see each other. Living in different states makes it difficult for everyone to gather often, but their pursuit of tagging each other ensures at the very least they will cross paths. Considering these men have reached their 40s, and time constraints of all sorts making it difficult to maintain friendships, having this serve as the source does make for some heartwarming moments getting right at the soul of this feature. 

Quite silly at times, just like the game itself, Tag presents this concept and completely runs with it. This presents the opportunity to show exactly how seriously these characters take the idea of winning this game but most importantly, tagging Jerry before it all comes to an end. In this feature, we get quite the collection of talent all coming together and delivering the type of performances that can be expected from them making for such an enjoyable movie to watch. The lengths they go to seriously gets to some dark places but it only further solidifies just how seriously they take this whole exercise. A nice breezy watch with a bit of heart right at the center of it all.