- Tag
- Directed by: Jeff Tomsic
- Written by: Rob McKittrick, Mark Steilen
- Starring: Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner and Hannibal Buress
- Classification: 14A/100 minutes
Jeremy Renner in Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema's 'Tag'
Jeremy Renner broke both his arms when a stunt went wrong during the filming of Tag, a rambunctious comedy based on the true story of adults that have been playing the child’s game for decades. Perhaps there’s a message there – that actors should leave violent pratfalls to the professionals and that adults should leave the amusements of their youth behind. That is decidedly not, however, the message of the testosterone-spilling romp that is Tag. Jon Hamm, Jake Johnson, Ed Helms and Hannibal Buress star as friends united in the cause of finally “tagging” Renner’s character Jerry, a ninja-like alpha male physically more nimble and mentally many steps ahead of his boyhood pals. As such, he has never, ever heard the words “you’re it” applied to him. First-time director Jeff Tomsic is enamored with tricky camera techniques, some of which work. More consistently successful are scenes stolen by Isla Fisher (as a spitfire who takes the game uproariously seriously) and the wry observations of stand-up comedian Buress, who seems to be portraying a version of his on-stage self. Add to that the soul and sentimentality that elbow their way past the shenanigans, and you have a film that is touching in a clumsy, boyish way that adults will understand and may even applaud.
Brad Wheeler