Tag | |
---|---|
Directed by | Jeff Tomsic |
Screenplay by |
|
Story by | Mark Steilen |
Based on | "It Takes Planning, Caution to Avoid Being 'It'" by Russell Adams |
Produced by |
|
Starring | |
Cinematography | Larry Blanford |
Edited by | Josh Crockett |
Music by | Germaine Franco |
Production companies |
|
Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 101 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $28 million [1] [2] |
Box office | $78.1 million [1] |
Tag is a 2018 American comedy film directed by Jeff Tomsic (in his feature directorial debut) and written by Rob McKittrick and Mark Steilen. The film is based on a true story that was published in The Wall Street Journal about a group of men, played by Ed Helms, Jake Johnson, Hannibal Buress, Jon Hamm, and Jeremy Renner, who had spent one month each year playing the same game of tag since their childhood. [3] [4] Annabelle Wallis, Isla Fisher, Rashida Jones, and Leslie Bibb also star.
The film was released June 15, 2018, by Warner Bros. Pictures. It received mixed reviews from critics and has grossed $78 million worldwide, against a production budget of $28 million.
Hogan "Hoagie" Malloy, Bob Callahan, Randy "Chilli" Cilliano, Kevin Sable and Jerry Pierce have been playing tag since 1983 during the month of May, with Jerry being the only member of the group who has not been tagged. Hoagie recruits Bob, Chilli and Kevin for one last attempt to tag Jerry, telling them that Jerry plans to retire after this year's game because of his upcoming marriage. Rebecca Crosby, a Wall Street Journal reporter doing a piece on Bob, joins them and decides to write an article on the friends. They are also accompanied by Hoagie's wife Anna.
Once in their hometown, the group locate Jerry and make an attempt to tag him, but are quickly overwhelmed by his skill. He introduces his fiancée Susan. While the others express disappointment over not being invited to the wedding despite their close relationship, Jerry claims he knew they would come anyway; they agree to not play the game at any wedding-related events in exchange for invitations to the wedding.
Despite this, the group makes several attempts to tag Jerry, but come up short, with one of the attempts leaving Hoagie, Chilli, and Kevin in traps set by Jerry. During the rehearsal dinner, Susan confides to the guys that she is pregnant.
Defeated, the group try to build a new plan. After finding out Jerry attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, they decide to strike his next meeting, which is on his wedding day. In preparation, they lock every exit and dress up as members of AA. They make their move and almost tag Jerry, but once he finds himself trapped in the church, Jerry retreats to the communion wine storage.
Jerry stays there for hours as the guys besiege the room, until Susan comes by, with the wedding just a few hours away. She berates him for risking their wedding for a childish game, then suddenly appears to have a miscarriage, so he comes out to help. Chilli is convinced that it is a ruse, but the situation seems authentic, and Jerry himself insists he is not playing around and the couple leaves.
The guys receive texts that the wedding is postponed due to the potential miscarriage. However, a suspicious Anna sees that the bridesmaids all made similar Instagram posts. As one of the bridesmaids has a crush on Bob, and also a private profile, Anna creates a fake profile for Bob to bait her for the truth. Once they get access, they see a post from the bridesmaid of Susan in her dress, showing that the wedding is still on schedule.
Incensed by the trick, the gang decide to crash the wedding. Upon their arrival, Susan welcomes them and confirms the hoax, including the pregnancy. Angry at Jerry for lying, Hoagie decides to tag him at the end of the ceremony after he and Susan kiss. He charges at Jerry and ends up tackling the pastor to the ground. Hoagie then loses consciousness, which Jerry thinks is a ruse, but Anna confirms that his condition is serious and calls for an ambulance.
Everyone meets up at the hospital where Hoagie tells them the truth: he had lied about Jerry quitting after the season because he wanted to reunite with his friends after he himself recently discovered a tumor on his liver; he feared he might not be alive for the following year and was heartbroken at possibly dying without seeing Jerry finally get tagged.
Jerry allows Hoagie to tag him out of pity. The group starts the game again, running around the hospital as they did as children, and change their rules so Anna and Rebecca can play as well.
Before the credits roll, video clips and a photograph are displayed of the real group of ten men that inspired the film, who continue to play to this day. During the credits the trio are singing a song, where Jerry finally gets tagged.
The film is based on a real-life group of friends from Spokane, Washington, known for playing a month-long game of tag every February over a 28-year period, governed by a contract written by Patrick J. Schultheis. [6] [7] The group was profiled in The Wall Street Journal in January 2013, [8] after which they began receiving offers to adapt their story into a film. They sold the rights to their story the next month. [8] [9] It was initially developed with Will Ferrell and Jack Black in mind; however, both eventually left the project. [10]
By March 2016, Ferrell and Black were no longer attached to the project, Jeff Tomsic was set to direct the film, and Ed Helms and Tracy Morgan were cast. [11] In April 2017, Jeremy Renner and Hannibal Buress joined the cast. Morgan then left the project due to scheduling conflict issues. [12] In May, Jake Johnson and Annabelle Wallis were cast. [13] [14] Jon Hamm, Isla Fisher and Rashida Jones were cast in June, with filming due to begin in Atlanta, Georgia, later in the month, [15] [16] specifically on June 23, with casting for extras issued. [17] Leslie Bibb was added to the cast as filming began on June 20. [18]
Principal photography began in June 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. [19] In July 2017, Jeremy Renner fractured his right elbow and left wrist after falling 20 feet while performing a stunt. [20] He ended up performing the stunt a second time before going to the hospital, and the production team used CGI to remove his casts in post-production. [21]
Tag grossed $54.7 million in the United States and Canada, and $23.4 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $78.1 million, against a production budget of $28 million. [1]
In the United States and Canada, Tag was released on June 15, 2018, alongside Incredibles 2 , and was projected to gross $12–16 million from 3,382 theaters in its opening weekend. [22] The film made $1.3 million from Thursday night previews, similar to the $1 million made by fellow R-rated comedy Game Night the previous February, and $5.4 million on its first day. It went on to open to $14.9 million, finishing third at the box office, a figure Deadline Hollywood said "isn't bad, isn't good, it's OK" considering its $28 million production cost. [23] It dropped 45% to $8.5 million in its second weekend, finishing fourth, and $5.6 million in its third weekend, finishing sixth. [24] [25]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 56% based on 203 reviews, with an average rating of 5.5/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "For audiences seeking a dose of high-concept yet undemanding action comedy, Tag might be close enough to it." [26] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 56 out of 100, based on reviews from 35 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". [27] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave it a 78% overall positive score. [23]
Peter Debruge of Variety magazine wrote: "Tag leaves audiences energized and, dare I say, inspired, having delivered all that outrageousness...in service of what ultimately amounts to a sincere celebration of lasting human connections." [28] A. O. Scott of The New York Times wrote: "Tag, unlike too many of its recent ilk, at least bothers to be a movie, rather than a television sketch distended to feature length. The performers don't seem to have been shoved in front of the camera and instructed to be funny. They have to work for their laughs, and to find coherence as an ensemble." [5]
Jon Frosch of The Hollywood Reporter called the film "neither bad nor good, but rather, despite its out-there story, almost numbingly ordinary: an easy, breezy action-com that's sometimes amusing but rarely funny, competent rather than inspired." [29]
Tag was released on digital copy on August 17, 2018, and on DVD and Blu-ray on August 28, 2018. [30]
Working Title Films Limited is a British film studio that produces motion pictures and television programs and is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a division of Comcast. The company was founded by Tim Bevan and Sarah Radclyffe in 1983. Bevan and Eric Fellner are now the co-chairmen of the company.
Jason Kent Bateman is an American actor and director. He is known for his starring roles in numerous comedy films and for portraying Michael Bluth in the Fox / Netflix sitcom Arrested Development (2003-2019) and Marty Byrde in the Netflix crime drama series Ozark (2017–2022). He has received several awards including a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards. In 2017, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Wedding Crashers is a 2005 American romantic comedy film directed by David Dobkin, written by Steve Faber and Bob Fisher, starring Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn and Christopher Walken with Rachel McAdams, Isla Fisher, Bradley Cooper and Jane Seymour in supporting roles. The film follows two divorce mediators who crash weddings in an attempt to meet and seduce women.
Judith Therese Evans, known professionally as Judy Greer, is an American actress. She is primarily known as a character actress who has appeared in a wide variety of films. She rose to prominence for her supporting roles in the films Jawbreaker (1999), What Women Want (2000), 13 Going on 30 (2004), Elizabethtown (2005), 27 Dresses (2008), and Love & Other Drugs (2010).
Robert Bruce Simonds Jr. is an American film producer, entrepreneur, and the founder & chairman of STX Entertainment, which creates, produces, distributes, finances, and markets film, television, digital media, and live events as well as virtual reality. According to The Wall Street Journal in its first four years, Simonds more than tripled the company's valuation to an estimated US$3.5 billion. In September 2017, it was reported that STX was close to an initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (SEHK), and in April 2018, the company announced it had filed for an IPO. In October 2018, it was announced that STX would not go through with the IPO, as political and market conditions had changed. Prior to working at STX, Simonds was an independent film producer whose over 30 films have generated more than $6 billion in worldwide box office revenue. Simonds is reported to have a net worth of $800 million.
Jonathan Daniel Hamm is an American actor best known for his role as Don Draper in the period drama series Mad Men (2007–2015), for which he won numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and two Golden Globe Awards.
Jeremy Lee Renner is an American actor. He began his career by appearing in independent films such as Dahmer (2002) and Neo Ned (2005), then supporting roles in bigger films, such as S.W.A.T. (2003) and 28 Weeks Later (2007). Renner gained Academy Award nominations for Best Actor for his performance as a soldier in The Hurt Locker (2009) and for Best Supporting Actor for playing a hot-headed robber in The Town (2010).
Hannibal Amir Buress is an American comedian, actor, producer, and writer. He started performing comedy in 2002 while attending Southern Illinois University. He starred on Adult Swim's The Eric Andre Show from 2012 to 2020, and was featured on Comedy Central's Broad City from 2014 to 2019. He is also known for his October 16, 2014 stand-up routine, which brought the sexual assault allegations against Bill Cosby to public attention and outcry, for which he was lauded.
Jonathan Michael Goldstein is an American filmmaker best known for his work on Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Game Night, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Horrible Bosses.
Lucas Hedges is an American actor. A son of filmmaker Peter Hedges, he studied theater at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Hedges began his acting career with a supporting role in Wes Anderson's comedy-drama Moonrise Kingdom (2012). He had his breakthrough in 2016 playing a sardonic teenager in Kenneth Lonergan's drama Manchester by the Sea, which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, among other accolades. Hedges then starred as an aggressive youth in an off-Broadway production of Yen and had supporting roles in the coming-of-age film Lady Bird and the drama Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri in 2017.
Daddy's Home is a 2015 American buddy comedy film directed by Sean Anders and written by Anders, Brian Burns, and John Morris. The film tells the story of a mild-mannered stepfather who vies for the attention of his wife's children when their biological father returns.
STX Entertainment is an American independent entertainment and media company. Founded in March 2014 by film producer Robert Simonds, the studio produces film, television, and digital media projects.
The House is a 2017 American comedy film directed by Andrew J. Cohen, and co-written by Cohen and Brendan O'Brien. The film stars Will Ferrell, Amy Poehler, Jason Mantzoukas, Ryan Simpkins, Nick Kroll, Allison Tolman, Rob Huebel, Michaela Watkins, and Jeremy Renner, and follows a couple who open an underground casino in their friend's house in order to pay for their daughter's college tuition.
Father Figures is a 2017 American comedy film directed by Lawrence Sher, written by Justin Malen, and starring Owen Wilson, Ed Helms, J. K. Simmons, Katt Williams, Terry Bradshaw, Ving Rhames, Harry Shearer, June Squibb, Christopher Walken, and Glenn Close with supporting roles by Jack McGee, Ryan Cartwright, Ryan Gaul, Ali Wong, Retta, Jessica Gomes, and Katie Aselton. The film follows two adult brothers who set out to find their biological father by encountering the men that their mother used to date.
Wind River is a 2017 neo-Western crime film written and directed by Taylor Sheridan. It is the third film by Sheridan on the modern American West. The film stars Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen as a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service tracker and an FBI agent, respectively, who try to solve a murder on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming. Gil Birmingham, Jon Bernthal, and Graham Greene also star.
The Secret Life of Pets 2 is a 2019 American animated comedy film produced by Universal Pictures and Illumination, and distributed by Universal. It is the sequel to The Secret Life of Pets (2016), and the second feature film in the franchise of the same name. It was directed by Chris Renaud, co-directed by Jonathan del Val, produced by Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy, and written by Brian Lynch. The film features the voices of Patton Oswalt, Eric Stonestreet, Jenny Slate, Kevin Hart, Tiffany Haddish, Lake Bell, Nick Kroll, Dana Carvey, Ellie Kemper, Renaud, Hannibal Buress, Bobby Moynihan, and Harrison Ford.
Paramount Players is an American film production label of Paramount Pictures, focusing on "contemporary properties" while working with other Paramount Global brands. The name alludes to the company's earliest origins as Famous Players Film Company, before its 1914 founding by William Wadsworth Hodkinson.
Lewis James Pullman is an American actor. A son of actor Bill Pullman, he made his film debut opposite his father in the western action film The Ballad of Lefty Brown (2017). His subsequent film credits include The Strangers: Prey at Night, Bad Times at the El Royale, Them That Follow (2019), Top Gun: Maverick (2022), The Starling Girl (2023), and Skincare (2024).
Arctic Dogs is a 2019 animated comedy film co-written and directed by Aaron Woodley and co-directed by Dimos Vrysellas. The film stars the voices of Jeremy Renner, Heidi Klum, James Franco, John Cleese, Omar Sy, Michael Madsen, Laurie Holden, Anjelica Huston and Alec Baldwin.