Tag 4K Review (Warner Bros.)

Tag is a 2018 comedy film directed by Jeff Tomsic (This Is Not Happening, Comedy Underground with Dave Attell, Idiotsitter, Norm Macdonald: Nothing Special, Time Bandits, and The Detour). This is Jeff Tomsic’s feature film directing debut. It’s written by Rob McKittrick (Waiting… and Still Waiting…) and Mark Steilen (The Settlement, Divorce, and Shameless). It’s based on a true story that was published in The Wall Street Journal in 2013. It was originally developed for Will Ferrell and Jack Black but both left the project. The first Warner Bros film released after the parent company; Time Warner, had been acquired by AT&T and subsequently renamed to WarnerMedia. Despite the acquisition, this is the last film in which the byline placed under Warner Bros and New Line’s logo reads “A TimeWarner Company”. It had a budget of $28 million and it grossed $77.7 million at the box office worldwide. Hogan “Hoagie” Malloy (played by: Ed Helms from The Hangover Trilogy, The Office, Vacation, and Wer’e the Millers), Bob Callahan (played by: Jon Hamm from Mad Men, The Town, Baby Driver, Top Gun: Maverick, and Keeping Up with the Joneses), Randy “Chilli” Cilliano (played by: Jake Johnson from Jurassic World, The Mummy, Drinking Buddies, and Let’s be Cops), Kevin Sable (played by: Hannibal Buress from Blockers, The Disaster Artist, Neighbors 1/2, and The Nice Guys) and Jerry Pierce (played by: Jeremy Renner from The Avengers franchise, Mayor of Kingstown, Hawkeye, The Town, and The Bourne Legacy) have been playing tag since they were nine years old during the month of May. Since then, the group’s main rule of the game is that the last one tagged is “it,” until next season. They have all grown up and drifted away from a each other a little bit especially Jerry. Wall Street Journal reporter Rebecca Crosby (played by: Annabelle Wallis from the Annabelle franchise, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, and Peaky Blinders) decides to cover their story. Hoagie’s wife Anna (played by: Isla Fisher from Wedding Crashers, Arrested Development, Now You See Me, and The Lookout) is there to support and help her husband during the game but she’s not officially allowed to play due to the rules. They arrive at their hometown in Washington to find Jerry at the local country club he will be getting married at. They meet his fiancee Susan (played by: Leslie Bibb from Iron Man franchise, Talladega Nights, Law Abiding Citizen, and Trick ‘r Treat) and learn why they weren’t invited to the wedding. They agree to not play the game at any wedding-related events in exchange for invitations to the wedding. Bob and Chilli’s high school crush Cheryl (played by: Rashida Jones from Parks and Recreation, Angie Tribeca, The Office, and I Love You, Man) gets invited to distract both of them from the game. This causes problems between the group instantly. They start to fall apart as Jerry continues to be the best at the game. Can they finally Tag Jerry or will he survive another round as the undefeated champion of Tag???? It’s CRAZY that Tag is actually based off a true story. At first, I was suspicious about that claim but it’s definitely real. These dudes really took that game serious and they had a blast with it. It has a solid supporting great cast which includes Isla Fisher, Rashida Jones, Annabelle Wallis, Leslie Bibb, Lil Rel Howery (Vacation Friends), Sebastian Maniscalco (The Super Mario Bros. Movie), Nora Dunn (Pineapple Express), and Thomas Middleditch (Godzilla: King of the Monsters). It’s a well written smart script that makes this comedy stand out compared to most that’s was released during the time with it’s concept. The chemistry between the leads were perfect in this and you really felt like they have been friends all these years. Each character had their own unique personality. Jeremy Renner, Ed Helms, and Jon Hamm stood out the most from the group of friends. Don’t get me wrong, Hannibal Buress and Jake Johnson were solid but the others just knocked it out of the park with their performances. It actually gets a little serious at the end and it proves how much of an investment you got into them after viewing all their wild experiences together. It was one of my favorite films that I checked out in theaters that year and I was going to multiple movies a week so that’s really saying something about the quality of this one. Tag is so much fun and it stays entertaining, it’s one of the better real life comedies that I’ve watched. There’s never a dull moment in Tag and it has a great flow to it. As for the replay value, I personally think it’s one of those features that gets better with each viewing. It’s a blast that just keeps going, RECOMMENDED!!!! Let’s talk about the high definition presentation from Warner Bros! This 2160p (2.39:1) transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is better than expected in 4K and it’s always been one of the better looking comedies. All of the silly gags, games, and locations really shine here. It’s a solid improvement over the original blu ray home video release. It has an English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 on the UHD. The audio is excellent for a comedy and it really kicks in during the game. Those hilarious moments are amped up on this. The soundtrack is great and it’s the highlight here. It really adds to the overall production. All of the dialogue is crystal clear, the crazy moments are elevated, and the music has a killer boost to it. It has English SDH subtitles. Let’s discuss the special features. It has “Meet the Real Tag Brothers” that’s a little over 5 minutes. You get to see the men who inspired this story and film. It has interviews with them. It has some clips from the production. It has some real life Tag footage from them thrown in the mix. Some of the same stuff that was redone in this movie. They chat about how it all got set up including how it was turned into this. They go over their history. They bring up the rules and what happened with everything. Only 10 people were involved in this competitive game. Some of the same footage is used towards the end of the bonus feature. It has 8 different “Deleted Scenes” that run a little over 6 minutes. The “Gag Reel” is almost 9 minutes and it some hilarious moments in it. It’s available everywhere right now including MovieZyng.com, CHECK IT OUT!!!!