Tag (7/10)
Director: Jeff Tomsic
Runtime: 100 Minutes
When you watch this movie you have to keep reminding yourself that this is all based on actual events. Though the movie does stretch the facts just a little bit for entertainment value. Most of all that is the best way to describe Tag, it's extremely entertaining by being absolutely ridiculous.
For one month every year, five highly competitive friends 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, they're determined to tag their friend Jerry, who after 30 years has never been "It".
Everyone in this movie looks like they're having so much fun, which is great because the chemistry between these five friends is undeniably perfection. You can feel that these characters have been friends by the way their dialogue rolls off each other and has a natural flow to it. Tag takes this bond between friends, which we see in countless movies such as "The Hangover" and makes it new and interesting by basing the whole thing around a game of tag. Everyone from Jon Hamm to Ed Helms, and even Helms wife Isla Fisher all share such a great bond that brings the movie together. Speaking of Fisher, she is extremely entertaining. She plays Helms wife and is extremely competitive and takes things way to intense. As constantly referenced by Jake Johnson who is also brilliant in this movie. I really can't give the cast enough credit, they play their roles perfectly and look like they're all having the time of their lives. Which makes the audience feel the same way.
The movie is surprisingly quite stylish with the way it choreographs all the tag moments. It slows most of it down and allows us to hear the thoughts going through Jerry's head as he pinpoints everyone's actions. At times this is very unrealistic but as mentioned its so ridiculous that its downright hilarious to watch his friends go to all this effort, just to put their hand on him and say "You're it". There's a lot of humour in this movie that I loved and personally, Tag nailed the comedy. However, there is a little bit of dark humour regarding abortions that I can see upsetting a few people. It's rare when you can say that a comedy script is on point, Blockers is the best comedy this year so far because of how funny and smart its script was. Tag is much the same, nothing ever feels forced and all the set pieces have a reason for them rather than simply being a series of cliche tropes.
The only big issue Tag has is much like with many other comedies, they simply gave too much away in the trailer. As the set pieces were lining up, I sadly already knew what the final punchline was going to be because they showed it in the trailer. Thankfully, these are very far between and there is still a lot of new gags that will keep you laughing.
Overall, Tag is so utterly bizarre and ridiculous that it's incredibly entertaining. By no means is this a comedy classic, but if you're looking for a fun movie to go see in the cinema. Then you'll certainly have a fun time watching Tag.
