TAG: Game Night Is “It”

Following the Dunkirk-themed films of last year, the superhero conflicts of Batman v Superman and Captain America: Civil War in 2016, and the duo of disastrous disaster flicks Armageddon and Deep Impact twenty years ago, amongst countless other examples, the twin film trend continues this year with Game Night and Tag.

Both comedy films revolve around adults gathering with old friends to play an epic game that takes them to extreme situations for victory. Tag draws the short end of the stick.

The players

At the centre of Tag is Hogan “Hoagie” Malloy (Ed Helms), who states in a job interview for a janitor position at an insurance company that working as a janitor is on his bucket list. He gets the job but, shockingly, he isn’t actually passionate about cleaning up the dirt of rich people. Rather, he uses the position to get close to the CEO and pal from childhood Bob Callahan (Jon Hamm) so he can physically touch him as part of their eternal game of – you guessed it – tag. They soon get the old gang back together, reaching out to Chili (Jake Johnson) and Sable (Hannibal Buress), to chase the ultimate target – the fleet-footed Jerry (Jeremy Renner), who has never been tagged in the decades of their friendship.

Tagging along is Rebecca (Annabel Wallis), a Wall Street Journal reporter working on a story about Callahan, and Anna (Isla Fisher), Hoagie’s wife. The narrative is based on a real group of friends who continue to play tag today in their 40’s but the movie succumbs to the use of the motley crew trope, with the cinematic counterparts conveniently and neatly fitting into various archetypes – Hoagie is the man-child, Sable is the pseudo-intellectual, Chili is the stoner, etc.

The scene stealers would have to be Buress and Fisher, who take their single dimensions (he talks in shower thoughts and she’s super aggressive) to a greater extent than the others. However, Tag’s secret weapon may be Thomas Middleditch. The Silicon Valley star supplies comedy gold in his few minutes of screen time as a curiously coiffed gym clerk who has answers to Jerry’s whereabouts but misunderstands the group’s intentions.

Needs more drama

Tag could have been a stronger film had it been released before Game Night, which raised the bar for studio comedies. Game Night had a very strong ensemble cast (and successfully navigated the minefield that is the issue of inclusivity along the way) of characters who were both subversive and fleshed out, a dynamic visual style that mirrored each action scene with a different party game, a sweet and believable romance, and a barrage of jokes that were both consistently funny and genuinely smart. A second viewing is required to catch all the jokes because of the sheer abundance of them, so some may have been missed the first time.

Tag, on the other hand, does not have fleshed out characters nor a convincing lifelong bond between them. The latter is especially a missed opportunity because of one particular scene – Rebecca asks Hoagie if the group’s friendship with Jerry only exists because of their long-running game of tag, implicating that the past is the only thing that the buddies have left in common, and Helms shows a genuine poignancy in his reaction to the “unfair” question.

This outlook on friendship is also enforced at the start when Chili gets high with his father who declares that “to live in the past is to die in the present.” Whilst fewer people will be watching Tag for its depiction of friendship as much as wanting to have a laugh, there was clear potential for something stimulating if the theme was further explored. As well as Helms’ shining moment, this group of actors excel when they’re dramatic – especially (and unsurprisingly) Renner with his poker face – reinforcing the value of a deeper comedy.

How the comedy works

As aforementioned, Game Night impressed with its unique visual flair. Tag is less inspired with its imitation of Guy Ritchie’s signature style of shooting action. Admittedly, these sequences do provide some of the film’s biggest laughs. The power of parody is palpable as Jerry perceives the other players Sherlock Holmes-style and plans his escape from them multiple times, complete with a hilarious inner monologue each time. Marvel movie mate Robert Downey Jr. would be proud.

Outside of these few action sequences, many of the jokes revolve around sexual acts. Every individual watcher’s mileage may vary in regard to finding the humour in such humour. Much of the dialogue is delivered in either one of two ways: the first is to make the same point a few times in different ways, so we’re watching the actors throwing jokes to the audience in the hope that one of them sticks with them. The second is when a character says something absurd and the punchline is, “…what?”

The writers’ and actors’ tactics seem to be to make the jokes they want to make but throw in alternative ones for good measure, and to punctuate each comic exchange with “… what?” in case the punchline goes over the viewers’ heads and they can laugh at the awkward confusion instead. Though these methods are quite often successful, they suggest a lack of faith in the core material.

One of the highlights comes at the midpoint as Jerry leads everyone down a forest. The trailing players enter bizarre territory that involves seeing duplicate silhouettes of their target. The surreal, very amusing happenings in the forest suggest a weirder direction that ultimately isn’t followed through but it’s one that would have been welcome for its ludicrousness.

Tag: Conclusion

This passable game of Tag has just enough laughs to be recommended, chiefly to those who haven’t basked in the pleasures of Game Night, because of the actors’ best efforts in otherwise stock comedy roles. Jeremy Renner channelling his fellow Avengers’ version of Sherlock Holmes is hysterical, Isla Fisher’s ferocity is uproarious and Hannibal Buress keeps things entertaining with a steady stream of one-liners.

The potential for something funnier and more emotionally engaging is unrealised but what Tag offers is serviceable for those simply wanting a fun time at the movies. For those who are selective on what movie to spend their hard-earned coin on, Game Night is available on all home video platforms.

What did you think of Tag? Did you like it more than Game Night? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!

Tag was released in USA on June 15, 2018 and in the UK on June 29, 2018. For international release dates, click here.