'Tag' Is Overwhelmingly Amusing, Ludicrously Action-Packed, and Satisfyingly Heartwarming

Tag is a comedy film inspired by a true story reported in The Wall Street Journal.  It follows a group  of friends – Hogan “Hoagie” Malloy (Ed Helms), Bob Callahan (Jon Hamm), Randy “Chilli” Cilliano (Jake Johnson), Kevin Sable (Hannibal Buress), and Jerry Pierce (Jeremy Renner) – who maintains a curious bonding tradition through the years: ever since they were kids, every May, they would play a month-long, no-holds-barred game of tag.  Among them, Jerry has never become the “it.”  But with his wedding coinciding with the game month, it leaves him vulnerable this time around.  Realizing this, the others, who are accompanied by Hoagie’s wife Anna (Isla Fisher) and WSJ reporter Rebecca Crosby (Annabelle Wallis), eagerly jump at the opportunity.  However, Jerry is ready for them.

This movie didn’t really receive a warm reception.  However, I enjoyed it a lot.  First of all, the premise is endearingly bananas, and the fact that it’s based on a true story is overwhelmingly amusing to me.  Seriously, after seeing some footage at the end of the movie of those real-life friends pulling off out-of-nowhere stunts to tag each other, I started to wish a documentary on them is made.

The script is solid.  It’s not that remarkably sharp, but it’s constantly humorous.   I found myself laughing out loud a lot of times.   I won’t exactly say that the narrative is unpredictable (the trailer did give away many important plot details), but I honestly think it has manifested the same quality of twists and turns that made Game Night riveting.  It also arrives at a very satisfying conclusion.  Most importantly, it has an earnest, heartwarming core.

Every character brings something to the table.  And they are at their most entertaining when they become ultra-competitive – the standouts being Jeremy Renner’s Jerry and Isla Fisher’s Anna.  Jerry is basically Batman.  He’s ridiculously competent and extremely athletic.  He obsessively plans ahead, perpetually keeping him a step ahead of everyone.  And in certain sequences where he’s avoiding getting tagged, he analytically breaks down the situation with an inner monologue while fluidly reacting on his feet, almost similar to how Robert Downey, Jr.’s Sherlock Holmes does it.   I found all these utterly hilarious.  Meanwhile, equally hilarious is Anna’s intensity, which is borderline sociopathic (think of a more fanatical version of Friend’s Monica).

All in all, Tag is a lot fun.