Starring: Ed Helms, Jake Johnson, Annabelle Wallis, Hannibal Buress, Isla Fisher, Rashida Jones, Leslie Bibb, Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner
Review: One month every year, five highly competitive friends (Ed Helms, Jake Johnson, Hannibal Buress, Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner) hit the ground running for a no-holds-barred game of tag -- risking their necks, their jobs and their relationships to take one another down. This time, the game coincides with the wedding of the only undefeated player (Renner). What should be an easy target soon becomes an all-out war as he knows they're coming to get him.
I have to be honest, my expectations were not very high going in. I mean, how entertaining can a movie be when it revolves around tag? I was pleasantly surprised, as Tag delivered on the laughs, but also had an unexpected amount of heart. I think as silly and over-the-top as this movie may seem at times, it truly embodies what it means to build long-lasting friendships. The actors totally sold that sentiment, too, as Helms, Johnson, Buress, Hamm, and Renner all have great chemistry to the point where you wonder if these guys are actually lifelong friends off the screen. The jokes were silly and screwball in nature, but they landed more often than not. While the premise became redundant after a while, the cast provided enough laughs and fun, as well as action sequences throughout their game to keep me entertained all the way to the end. I highly recommend that you throw away all preconceived notions and give this film a shot.
Tag! You're it!
Fun Fact: The film was based on the true events of the lives of former high school classmates (Bill Akers, Patrick Schultheis, Sean Raftis and Mike Konesky). As teenagers during the 1980s, they would entertain themselves by playing the schoolyard game during breaks at Gonzaga Preparatory School in Spokane, Washington.