Tag

Movie Name: Tag
Year of Release: 2018
Director: Jeff Tomsic
Starring: Ed Helms, Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner, Jake Johnson, Lil Rel Howery, Isla Fisher, Annabelle Wallis, Hannibal Buress, Nora Dunn, Steve Berg, Leslie Bibb, Rashida Jones, Indiana Sifuentes, Thomas Middleditch, Al Mitchell, Sebastian Maniscalco
Genre: Comedy
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 3
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Synopsis and Review

"Tag" is the feature directorial debut for Jeff Tomsic, though he has had a lengthy career in TV shows (he directed episodes of shows such as "Broad City" and "Wrecked" to name but a few). The film, which is based on a true story, follows the story of a group of men who have been close since they were children, and who get to play tag during the month of May. Jerry out of all in the group, is the only one who has never been tagged. Hogan, alongside his wife (who is not playing since girls were not allowed when the game was devised in their childhood), recruits Bob, Chilli and Kevin for one last attempt at tagging Jerry, since Jerry has informed them he plans to retire after this year's game due to his impending nuptials. The group is also joined by Rebecca Crosby, a Wall Street Journal reporter doing a piece on Bob. When they get to their hometown, they locate Jerry and attempt to tag him, which proves to be unsuccessful once again. They all agree no to play tag at any wedding-related events, but as they try to find ways to catch Jerry outside of those, they keep failing. They finally crash the wedding and Hogan tries to tag Jerry at the end of the ceremony, but he fails once again, but with some unexpected outcomes.

"Tag" is powered by its unique premise, one of a game played by friends throughout decades, as a means to keep a friendship alive and never lose the child within each and everyone one of them. While this is indeed a great premise, sadly the film latches on to this playful aspect alone and never truly gives much insight into who these characters actually are, and what exactly makes them compelling (or for that matter, what makes them stay friends throughout all those years). While the levity of the description of these characters may seem like a quirky way to invite situational humor (Jeremy Renner's character Jerry reads as series of different personas for instance, whereas Jake Johnson's druggy Chilli, is persistently characterized as simply that), it mostly comes across as lazy story writing, which also extends to the female characters, who literally have nothing to do but "tag along". This is a concept that could have had at the core of its narrative the mix of the lunacy of these friends tagging each other year after year, married with an actual human element of people who support each other and characters who are more than just a single paragraph description, meant to illustrate them by one single aspect of how they present themselves (case in point Jon Hamm's successful business man). There are aspects that work in this film, namely the camaraderie which is captured between the group, and things indeed get more interesting when Rashida Jones makes her entrance and brings some edginess to the narrative, but sadly she never gets much screen time, and neither gets the opportunity to know more about these characters. It's an interesting concept that never really lands, oscillating between trying to be a somewhat riveting physical comedy (which it never commits to) and an ode to friendship (which again never carves the depth for). The cast tries to bring their characters to life, but out of the whole bunch it's actually Rashida Jones who manages to get away with the film. She actually is puzzled by who and what these people turned out to be, and in the end so are we.