The concept of the new film Tag is brilliant in and of itself. It’s made so much better that it’s based on a true story, and somewhere in the pacific northwest, a group of friends — now in their 50s — still play a simple game for kids. But when you add a stellar cast of actors, a ridiculous, yet heartfelt wraparound story, and the 90s Canadian rock band the Crash Test Dummies, you end up one of the best comedies of the year.
Tag follows the adventures of five lifelong friends, who still get together every May for an epic game of tag. Hoagie (Ed Helms), Chilli (Jake Johnson), Bob (Jon Hamm), Kevin (Hannibal Buress) and Jerry (Jeremy Renner) all lead very separate lives. But once a year, they play tag, and a person can be tagged at any time and at any place, which makes for a whole month of paranoia and careful planning. This year, Hoagie (Helms) has a plan to finally tag Jerry (Renner), who has never been “it.” Jerry is getting married, so Hoagie convinces the others to head back to their hometown in Spokane, Washington, to get Jerry while he’s busy with his big day.
Hoagie recruits Bob (Hamm) a successful businessman, who happens to be giving an interview to Rebecca (Annabelle Wallis), a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, when Hoagie surprises his old friend with a tag and proposition. Rebecca quickly realizes that this is the better story and decides to “tag”-a-long with the men as they begin their plan to tag Jerry. The group goes to Colorado to get Chilli (Johnson), using Hoagie’s wife, Anna (Isla Fisher) for assistance, and then they collect Kevin (Burress) while he’s in a therapy session.
Once back in Spokane, the friends begin plotting to tag Jerry, a successful businessman and physical trainer, who never left their hometown. But Jerry is ready for them all, and the machinations and clash of wills between the two sides take some twisted — and funny — turns, and the group of friends realize that tag is so much more than a stupid game they started years before as kids.
The ensemble cast, which is rounded out by Leslie Bibb and Rashida Jones, do an amazing job of juggling the physical comedy, raunchy jokes, and emotional speeches, and Hannibal Burress and Jake Johnson get most of the laughs for Kevin’s unique way at looking at life, and Chilli’s constant need to get high. Hamm and Helms serve as the straight men, and Renner is all cool on-screen.
Tag is written by Rob McKittrick and Marc Steilen, based off a story by Steilen and the original Wall Street Journal article. The film story captures the uniqueness of the true story, while still adding enough heartfelt emotion and laughs to transcend the subject matter. The direction by Jeff Tomsic is handled very well, with enough slapstick scenarios peppered between scenes of exposition as the friends come together and realize their bonds are unique and special. Also, Tomsic uses the Crash Test Dummies’ biggest hit in satisfying ways.
Tag is a genuine film that celebrates the idea of friendship, and it does so with some big laughs. I can relate to this story, as I’m still friends with my group from high school, and even got to spend this past May with them back in my hometown as we all came together for wedding (life imitating art?).We didn’t play tag, or any games, actually, but it sure was nice seeing them all again and catching up, and maybe that’s why this film resonates with me. At its core, Tag is a film about friendships, and I cherish my friendships with the “Sweathoggs,” which is what we call our group, and completely understand the need to stay in touch as we all get older. Tag reminded me of that, and I got to laugh, sometimes very hard, as well.
Tag is rated R and is in theaters now.
