Starring: Ed Helms, Jake Johnson, Hannibal Buress, Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner, Isla Fisher, Leslie Bibb, Annabelle Wallis, Rashida Jones
Distributor: Roadshow Films
Runtime: 100 mins. Reviewed in Jun 2018
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Four friends, who have participated in the same childhood game of tag for the past 30-plus years, converge on the wedding of the only undefeated player in their game in the hope of finally tagging him. It sounds outlandish, but it’s loosely based on a true story (an article about the real players, written by Russell Adams, can be found on the website of the Wall Street Journal). It also doesn’t sound especially cinematic – why should anyone care when the stakes are non-existent? How exciting can a successful (or unsuccessful) tag be? How can such a formless playground pastime be turned into a satisfying narrative? There is some weight to all these quibbles, but when the film does succeed, it is thanks to the efforts of its largely overqualified cast, who effortlessly make the film funnier and more charming than it sounds.
During an interview with a WSJ journalist, Rebecca (Annabelle Wallis), high-powered CEO Bob (Jon Hamm) is stunned by the appearance of his friend Hoagie (Ed Helms), who has inveigled his way into the building’s janitorial staff. Hoagie tags Bob, who is now, “It”. Hoagie tells him that their friend, Jerry (Jeremy Renner), is going to quit their game, which runs annually during the month of May, after the current season. As Jerry has never been tagged, neither man can stand the idea of him leaving the game undefeated. Together with Rebecca, who has progressed rapidly from utter confusion to intrigue, and Hoagie’s uber-competitive wife, Anna (Isla Fisher), the men head to Boulder to enlist their third player, Chilli (Jake Johnson).
After a low-budget but likably scrappy parkour chase through the apartment complex where Chilli lives, cohabiting and smoking dope with his equally deadbeat father, he agrees to join them. En route to Jerry’s wedding in Spokane, the group swings by Portland to pick up their final member, Sable (Hannibal Buress). If it sounds busy, that’s probably because it is, but this opening does a reasonable job of introducing the players, their emotional connection to the game (and one another), and a few of their dicier game tactics over the years through a brief montage (apparently neither funerals nor births are off limits under their tag rules).
The fun steps up a notch when they arrive in their hometown, where Jerry’s wedding plans are well under way. An early ploy to lure Jerry to his wedding venue fails, not because he doesn’t come, but because he is far too skilled to be tagged. When Jerry arrives, the camera approaches action star Jeremy Renner with pronounced reverence, giving him the kind of entrance that Westerns reserved for the Duke. As he takes down his four assailants in slick, super slow-motion, his voiceover narrates his calculated moves, the whole package redolent of the celebrated fight scenes in Guy Ritchie’s ‘Sherlock Holmes’ films. He ends the ambush by leaping to safety through the window.
After a brief timeout is instated, Jerry’s fiancé Susan (Leslie Bibb), proposes an amendment to ensure that the game is paused during the actual wedding ceremony and a few other key events. With the amendment ratified, the game is back on, and the four friends will stop at nothing to finally make Jerry “It”. The problem is, there’s nothing that Jerry won’t do to avoid this fate, be it inviting Chilli and Bob’s shared crush, Cheryl (Rashida Jones), to the event to distract his hunters, or setting up elaborate traps around the venues. The film’s ending is completely unexpected, but it’s also a lovely compromise, given that audience allegiances are split between Jerry’s perfect record and the group’s desire to tag him.
Director Jeff Tomsic, who makes his feature debut with the film, may struggle with maintaining a comedic or exciting tone, but at least he had the good sense to cast some very funny people. The laughs are inconsistent, but it’s through no fault of the performers, who hail from diverse backgrounds in the entertainment landscape. When the screenplay, written by Rob McKittrick and Mark Steilen, gets around to its better moments, they improve the jokes with strong deliveries. Ed Helms, who became synonymous with the slightly geeky straight guy role during the ‘Hangover’ trilogy, does a reasonable job as the emotional lynchpin of the group. Perhaps it’s the design of his role that he is lost a little in the presence of his co-stars. Jake Johnson, who has come up through television comedies and indies, is great as the stoner Chilli, always capable of saying the wrong thing but developing a tone between knowing and idiocy that brushes over his faux pas. Jon Hamm is decent as Bob, who covers up his insecurities by projecting an aura of arrogance. Hamm, who first stretched his comedic chops in a cameo in ‘Bridesmaids’, has an excellent chemistry with Johnson, and the film uses their vying for Cheryl’s affections to its advantage, even if their repartee is usually more sweet than funny. Jeremy Renner, whose action credentials run the gamut from the ‘Avengers’ franchise to ‘The Hurt Locker’, carries himself like a true star. From his knowing smile to the way he carries himself, you absolutely buy Renner as a world class tag player. The real standout in the film, however, is Hannibal Burress, the comedian turned actor whose deadpan philosophical asides as Sable (‘time is a construct’) reap the lion’s share of the laughs.
Sadly, most of the women in the film are given short shrift by the screenplay. After her introduction, Annabelle Wallis’ Rebecca all but disappears into the background, and despite the actress’ natural sparkle onscreen, Rashida Jones’ Cheryl is little more than a McGuffin. Leslie Bibb gets a little more to do as a doting bride-to-be, and her ability to keep you guessing about her true feelings for the game is decently used. Isla Fisher makes the most of her role, spurring Hoagie on with a curious blend of rage and love, but even she is methodically sidelined to let the boys play.
The craft is largely workmanlike, with a few elements standing out for mixed reasons. The use of high-tech Phantom cameras to create the incredible slow-motion sequences gives them a legitimate flair, and there’s an innate humour to seeing their stretched out, gurning faces flapping in the breeze. These moments are a clear highlight. Elsewhere, a handful of lazy hip hop tunes frustrate, their needless presence only made more trying by the sparse use of Germaine Franco’s superior score.
The players in ‘Tag’ all repeat the same mantra: “We don’t stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing”. Though the film doesn’t play much with its story or its form, it does assemble a hugely playful cast of talent for its titular game, and it’s enjoyable enough to watch them defy their ages and have fun. If you’re looking for some light laughs and you don’t mind settling for a less-than-classic comedy, then ‘Tag’ fits the very definition of “okay”.
Callum Ryan is an associate of the Australian Catholic Office for Film & Broadcasting.
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