Tag | Film Review

Hey Guys x

I remember seeing the first adverts for this and really wanting to see it, mainly because I'm a huge fan of both Jeremy Renner and Ed Helms. They're both funny guys, so having them in the same film should be a recipe for hilarity!

The film is about a group of friends who engage in a highly competitive, sometime-dangerous game of Tag every May. However, this year the rules have changed - the only undefeated player is getting married, and makes them all promise that they won't 'tag' him at any wedding-related events. Which means that their time is limited - making the game more competitive than ever!

I somewhat enjoyed this film.

First of all, it's based on a true story, which instantly made it really sweet and heartfelt to me. If this idea had just come to a screenwriter, they'd probably get laughed out of their pitch of the film. But the fact that this is a thing that really happened between a group of real-life friends is something that you just have to be in awe of.

While it was quite a funny film, a lot of the jokes fell flat for me. Because, while you expect this to be a joke-a-minute, there were some supposedly heartfelt moments that were cut short because of the addition of an unfunny joke, or a need to make sure that most of the players never felt any actual emotion.

But in terms of comedy, the standout performer in the film was definitely Isla Fisher, who played Ed Helms' wife. She wasn't even involved in the game, but the way that she involves herself in it was absolutely hilarious and she was definitely my favourite character.

The film has an element of the film 'game night', in the sense that, you will never be able to tell if something that's happening is real or fake, for the sake of a tag. For the most part, this works really well and keeps the audience completely involved because you too are trying to work out if the characters are being sincere. However, one lie that is told in the film (which I won't spoil) rubbed me up the wrong way. I'd be really interested to know if that part was true to real-life or if it was something they added for dramatic effect. But then again, it does show how dedicated they all are to the game.

Overall, I'd definitely recommend this film to anyone looking for a bit of fun. This isn't a film that you have to think too deeply about, and it's not something that will stay with you for a particularly long time after it's finished.

Lou