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Tag seemed rather childish from its premise, as lifelong friends have, annually during the month of May, been playing the same titular game since they were… children.
In its opening scene, it was already beginning to lose me as Hogan ‘Hoagie’ Malloy (Ed Helms) takes a job as a janitor, does something to irritate black interviewer Reggie (Lil Rel Howery) and the latter mutters, “White people(!)”, so, it appears racism is okay if you’re black and criticising white people.
Really?!
What it boils down to is the intent for a group of grown men to finally tag Jerry (Jeremy Renner), the one friend who can never be tagged, always finding a way to avoid it, and is about to retire from the game. Can they finally get him? Will you care?
Oh, and for a change of pace, Jake Johnson (Let’s Be Cops) plays a druggie slacker.
Plus, this film is not to be confused with the Tag, 2015 Japanese horror movie.
There’s a couple of amusing sight gags, including an early one with a window, as well as the well-choreographed attempts to catch Jerry, a joke about print journalism which rings 100% true, and a rather cool choice of music track for Ahmad Lewis’ Back in the Day, but… all too often, Tag is exactly what you’d expect from the average 15-certificate bawdy American comedy in this decade as they’re all rather the same.
And don’t forget a Yoko Ono joke which you’ve got long before it’s finished… Well, *do* forget that.
No spoilers about who ends up tagged, but it is quite nice that they conclude with footage of the real-life tag team, as well as a shot of the article. Yes, it’s not quite the end of E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial, but it is quite sweet.
Although there’s no post-credits scene, what a lot of people would’ve missed if they left as the credits began is that you see Jeremy Renner leading a cover version of The Crash Test Dummies’ Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm, with the other lead actors vocalising.
And that’s not the only reason to stay for the full end credits…
In fact, overall, as much as Tag sucks as a film, it does have one of the best end-credits sequences of 2018, and it’s a great shame that most people will never watch it because they’re idiots… so I’m telling you that you should.
The film is presented in the theatrical 2.35:1 widescreen aspect ratio and is anamorphic, and, for a modern movie, it looks as fine as it’s going to, although compared to Blu-ray, it’s obviously not as sharp. It’s okay for a DVD, though.
The sound is Dolby Digital 5.1, and it’s not a special FX film, but while nothing stands out, there’s no complaints about what your ears will hear.
The extras are scant as there’s just one main extra – the self-explanatory Meet The Real Tag Brothers, even though, at a length of 5:09, it’s classed as a “Special feature”. For anyone who cares, there’s an audio descriptive track.
Warner Bros ‘tag’ this disc with their usual lazy trick of using a static cast shot for the menu, while the short repetitive piece of music in the background bears no relation to the movie whatsoever. Who keeps making that decision?!
Subtitles are in English and Greek, while chapters are even less than usual with an odd-numbered 11. I remembered when DVDs first began, and Warner led the way with titles like Disclosure, which had 44! What happened?!
Tag is available to buy on Amazon Video and and DVD.
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FILM CONTENT PICTURE QUALITY SOUND QUALITY EXTRAS |
1.5 8 8 1 |
| OVERALL | 4.5 |
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 96 minutes
Studio: Warner Bros
Cat.no.: 5000256206
Year: 2018
Released: November 5th 2018
Chapters: 11
Picture: 1080p High Definition
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
Languages: English
Subtitles: English SDH, Greek
Format: 2.35:1 (/i Scope Anamorphic)
Disc Format: DVD9
Director: Jeff Tomsic
Producers: Todd Garner and Mark Steilen
Screenplay: Rob McKittrick and Mark Steilen
Based on: the Wall Street Journal article “It Takes Planning, Caution to Avoid Being It” by Russell Adams
Music: Germaine Franco
Cast:
Hogan ‘Hoagie’ Malloy: Ed Helms
Jerry Pierce: Jeremy Renner
Bob Callahan: Jon Hamm
Rebecca Crosby: Annabelle Wallis
Randy ‘Chilli’ Cilliano: Jake Johnson
Anna Malloy: Isla Fisher
Kevin Sable: Hannibal Buress
Linda Malloy: Nora Dunn
Lou Seibert: Steve Berg
Susan Rollins: Leslie Bibb
Cheryl Deakins: Rashida Jones
Reggie: Lil Rel Howery
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.