Honestly, when I first saw the trailer to "Tag", I had planned on letting it go by since I felt it would've been totally inane. Subsequently, I decided to see it, but more for the reason that there was nothing left to see that I hadn't already seen. But now that I've viewed it, I can truly say that even though it wasn't a great film, it certainly was a surprisingly better film than I ever thought it would've been.
One month, May, every year, five highly competitive friends, Hogan 'Hoagie' Malloy (Ed Helms), Randy 'Chilli' Cillano (Jake Johnson), Bob Callahan (Jon Hamm), Kevin Sable (Hannibal Buress) and Jerry Pierce (Jeremy Renner) hit the ground running in a no-holds-barred game of tag they've been playing since the first grade--risking their necks, their jobs and their relationships to take each other down with the battle cry "You're It!" This year, the game coincides with the wedding of their only undefeated player, which should finally make him an easy target. But he knows they're coming...and he's ready. Based on a true story, this shows how far some guys will go to be the last man standing.
Others to round out the cast are Annabelle Wallis as Rebecca Crosby, Isla Fisher as Anna Malloy, Hogan's wife, Nora Dunn as Linda Malloy, Hogan's mom, Steve Berg as Lou Seibert, Leslie Bibb as Susan Rollins, Jerry's fiancé, Rashida Jones as Cheryl Deakins and Lil Rel Howery as Reggie.
This was directed in rapid succession by Jeff Tomsic ("Crazy House" (TV movie) '14, Good at Life" (TV movie) '15) plus TV and shorts. I say rapid succession because the way this filmmaker directed the editing, it was as if these characters were going in fast motion to get to each other before the next, hence the game of tag. Using slow motion photography was very effective when Jerry was calculating the others guys' movements so he could make his move more effective. Considering this is his first theatrical film, he will receive more work. Doing all the TV and shorts he's done has served this filmmaker well. Although it was a physical, fratfall film, it was cleverly written by Rob McKittrick (""Waiting..." '05) plus a video and a short, and Mark Steilen ("The Settlement" '99, "The Pooch and the Pauper" (TV movie) 2000 plus TV. The one thing I would impress on newer comedy writers is to leave out the many areas of drug use and references especially when it doesn't have any bearing on storyline. This is NOT funny. This is a cheap way to get a laugh or two, but no real laughs. What does amaze me about the story is that it's based on a true story. However the film, "Pain & Gain" '13 isn't anything like this film, the shear obscurity of the two plots are unbelievable since both films are based on true stories. Like "Pain & Gain", this film certainly does have an original storyline, it just got a bit bogged down with gratuitous drug use and four-letter words.
If this brand of comedy is to your liking, you'll revel, however if you're looking for something a bit more sustaining and better executed, you might want to Netflix this one. It does have many funny moments--many more than I thought--but with a bit more experience under these writers' belts, they will very likely become the writers they are striving to be.
Out of 4 Stars: 2.5 Rated: R 100mins.
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