Remember back in the 90s when the weekend would hit and you'd sit around your house all day with nothing to do and TBS on in the background? It's 5:00 in the afternoon and you haven't changed out of your PJs yet and all you would do is rest on the couch and watch whatever inconsequential comedy TBS was showing all throughout the day. You didn't have a smart phone to distract you from the movies. You didn't have plans because chances are you were a kid, like I was. You hated all the commercials, but the remote was so far away, you suffered through them. You'd watch movies like Dumb and Dumber, Tommy Boy, Encino Man, etc. and it was a great day. It didn't matter the quality of the comedies. It didn't matter how many times you'd seen them. That Saturday was reveled and looked forward to. Had Tag come out around that time and played on repeat on TBS, it would've fit in perfectly. Tag doesn't break any ground in the comedy genre. Tag doesn't have any commentary on any real world situations. Tag isn't going to stand the test of time. But it is a sweet little comedy with more laughs than it should to produce an end result that is better than you'd expect it to be.
Tag is based off of a true story of a bunch of dudes who have played the same game every year for over 30 years. The article showcases the importance and the awesomeness of friendships even as these guys get older. Watching old men play the game of tag like children really does bring a sense of nostalgia to the article and the film really does try to capture a lot of the essence of the article while adding a cinematic spin to it. The movie focuses on Hogan (Ed Helms), Callahan (Jon Hamm), Chilli (Jake Johnson) and Sable (Hannibal Buress) tracking down the fifth member of the group, Jerry (Jeremy Renner), who in the the 30 year existence of the game, has never been tagged. Jerry is getting married and has decided at the end of the month to retire from the game completely. The friends travel to the wedding (that way they'll know his schedule) in order to finally tag him. And that's it. There's not much else to the story. It's just a series of sequences of the group trying to tag Jerry and Jerry evading them in more complex and creative ways. Along for the ride is Hogan's overly-enthusiastic and aggressive wife Anna (Isla Fisher) and an old love interest (Rashida Jones) who used to be a part of a love triangle involving Callahan and Chilli.
I went into the movie with relatively low expectations. I liked the concept of the movie and its hard to argue with a cast like this... but the trailers to the movie made it look very vanilla. It's one of those kinds of movies that you want to be great but will leave you dissatisfied as you leave the theater. Fortunately, I think my low-ish expectations actually helped me enjoy the movie a little bit more. Because while it is definitely a little on the low-fat yogurt side of comedies, it was much better than I expected it to be. What certainly worked best in the film is the chemistry between all five members. I know it's hard to believe that Jeremy Renner and Jon Hamm would ever canoodle with the likes of Ed Helms, but somehow it all works. Each character has their own "quirk" that lends to the fun of the movie. Callahan is a successful CEO with a heightened ego. Chilli is the group stoner. Sable stands around spouting off humorous non-sequiturs in absolute Hannibal Buress fashion. And Jerry is basically the Jason Bourne of the group. Each sequence involving the other four trying to tag him is turned into a calculated action shot in slow motion with Jerry narrating his every move. The only weak link in the group here is actually Helms. It's something I hadn't realized until recently, but Ed Helms does not really work as a comedic actor outside of The Office. He was perfect as Andy Bernard and his character and portrayal elevated the show and contributed to the timelessness of it. But nearly everything outside The Office (save for the first Hangover movie) has been a comedic flop-- not just in terms of box office. And while he does have a good rapport with the rest of the group, he's supposed to be the one keeping the game going and everyone together. He's the ringleader and it's wrong to cast him in a role that drives a comedic film. He doesn't have the comedic strength to do it and the moments where the film rests on his shoulders feels really flat.
The best character in the entire movie however is Isla Fisher's Anna. The background of the game is that these guys started it when they were nine years old. They wrote hand-written bylaws that stated no girls were allowed to play. So, Anna, unable to play, gets weirdly aggressive and competitive when Helms' Hogan character is "it" and has to tag someone else. She's the mastermind behind his plans to tag the others and it's some of the best moments in the movie. She lives for the game, even though she can't physically tag anyone herself. I laughed more at her craziness and intensity than I did at anything else in the movie. She plays crazy great and it's the best role she's had since Wedding Crashers. She steals literally every scene she's in. I would watch an entire movie based off her character. The tag sequences are also more clever than I expected them to be. Yes, there becomes a certain repetitiveness to them, but each one brings something new and unexpected to the table. Director Jeff Tomsic treats each one like it's an action scene in a spy thriller. And while the novelty of the slow-mo gag wears thin after awhile, Tomsic still finds ways to make it funny. I didn't laugh as much as I wanted to during Tag, but I did laugh more than I expected.
Tag certainly has its flaws. The entire third act feels like the stakes have dissipated and the tone of the act is certainly different. Though it doesn't really detract too much from the overall fun of the film. There's not really a genuine reason I can give you to go see this movie in theaters when it's one of those rainy Saturday Netflix type of movies, but it's not one you'll regret dropping a few bucks to see. It's harmless, it's quirky, and surprisingly there's some heart and earnestness to the movie when examining the inner-workings of true friendship. Plus, right before the movie ends we get to see some real moments of the real group playing tag. Once you realize a lot of what's in the movie actually came from this group's real life tag antics, it makes their story even cooler. There's not a lot of comedies out right now and you could certainly do worse than watching a bunch of white dudes (and Hannibal Buress) try to touch each other and yell "you're it!"
C+
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