Tag (2018)
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A group of friends who have played a game of tag for decades attempt to tag one final member before his wedding.
The story
Hoagie Malloy and his friends have been playing a game of tag every May since 1983. This year, they are determined to tag Jerry, who plans to retire from the game before his upcoming marriage. Accompanied by Hoagie's wife and a reporter from the Wall Street Journal, the group travels to their hometown of Spokane, Washington. They must navigate various obstacles and Jerry's formidable skills to successfully tag him before the wedding festivities begin. The group faces challenges as they attempt to coordinate their moves while navigating the complexities of Jerry's personal life and the public attention brought by the reporter's investigation.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Hoagie Malloy and his friends have been playing a game of tag every May since 1983. This year, they are determined to tag Jerry, who plans to retire before his wedding. Accompanied by Hoagie's wife and a reporter, the group travels to Spokane, Washington. They face numerous obstacles, including Jerry's skill and a series of traps. During the rehearsal dinner, Jerry's fiancée Susan reveals she is pregnant. The group eventually tries to tag him at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting on his wedding day, but he retreats to a storage room. After a series of misunderstandings involving a fake miscarriage, the group crashes the wedding. Hoagie eventually suffers a medical emergency after tackling the pastor. In the hospital, Hoagie reveals he only wanted to play one last time because he was battling a liver tumor. The group eventually tags Jerry in the hospital, and they decide to include the women in the game. The film ends with a tribute to the real-life 'Tag Brothers' who inspired the story.
- First release year
- 2018
- Runtime (minutes)
- 101
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Jeff Tomsic
- Writers
- Rob McKittrick · screenplay; Mark Steilen · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Ed Helms · Hoagie "Hoagie" Malloy; Jake Johnson · Bob Callahan; Annabelle Wallis · Randy "Chilli" Cilliano; Hannibal Buress · Kevin Sable; Isla Fisher · Jerry Pierce; Rashida Jones · Anna; Leslie Bibb · Susan; Jon Hamm · Rebecca Crosby; Jeremy Renner · none
- Genres
- comedy; buddy comedy; black comedy
- Themes
- Friendship; Mortality; Tradition
- Tone and mood
- Comedy; Action-comedy
- Setting
- Spokane, Washington during the month of May.
- Premise and plot tags
- Based on a true story; Sports-related game; Road trip
- Source material / true-story basis
- The Wall Street Journal article
- Reception
- The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics and was a moderate box office success.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 55% · scale: percentage · review count: 203; Metacritic · score: 56 · scale: 100 · review count: 35; CinemaScore · score: B+ · scale: A+ to F; PostTrak · score: 78% · scale: percentage
- Production trivia
- The film was originally developed with Will Ferrell and Jack Black in mind.; Actor Brian Dennehy shared a name with one of the actual 'Tag Brothers'.; The real 'Tag Brothers' were inducted into the Gonzaga Prep's Hall of Fame.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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