I was intrigued by “Tag” because of its advertisement for being inspired by a true story based on a 2013 Wall Street Journal article -- meaning there is a group of grown men out there who have continued their childhood game of tag for 30-plus years. Color me invested.
Besides the number of guys involved and general timeline, most of the plot points in the film, from the no-tag-back rule to their ridiculous antics to get each other, are authentic.
Spoilers start here!
The film jumps right into it: We open on Ed Helms’ Hogan (they mostly go by last names or nicknames here) applying for a job as a janitor for the simple reason of getting close to the company’s CEO and fellow tagger, Bob Callahan (Jon Hamm). A chase scene ensues, and I’m quickly introduced to a few things:
- The tag scenes will consist of lots of running.
- The film relies heavily on physical comedy.
- The love I have for Jon Hamm has only just scratched the surface.
The plot centers around the gang’s (Helms, Hamm, Jake Johnson as stoner Chili, and Hannibal Buress as a weirdly-philosophical dude called Sable) ambitions to tag the only person in their group to never be tagged, Jerry (Jeremy Renner). After learning that Jerry’s getting married soon, the four, along with a reporter (whose tagalong was only necessary for explaining the exposition that doesn’t play out onscreen), begin the task of locating Jerry.
I don’t entirely understand. It took bribing a bartender to find out where the wedding was going to be? Are none of these guys on social media?
This got fun, though -- Jerry, dubbed the king of tag, tunes in to some kind of Liam-Neeson-a la-“Taken” kind of focus whenever he realizes he’s being pursued. It spells disaster for the rest of the guys but proved super entertaining watching him work his magic.
Despite this, the standout character goes to Anna (Isla Fisher). As Hogan’s wife, she takes the game of tag just as seriously as he does -- maybe even more. She’s intense and aggressive and doesn’t let anyone tell her what to do. #girlpower
After a few failed attempts at tagging Jerry, we get to the wedding, where everything pretty much culminates with Jerry’s bride-to-be’s attempts to keep her nuptials tag-free. We had to get through a lot of fairly pointless details to get there (the introduction of Rashida Jones’ Cheryl and her love triangle with Callahan and Chili being one of them), but at least we got a (kind of) feel-good ending.
All I’ll address as far as that, however, is that this movie is ultimately one about friendship and what brings and keeps people together. It’s a fun film that’ll take you by surprise at times, which I’m sure is the essence of what the men who lived this story would hope for.