Many modern comedies rely on suggestive material to compensate for scripts that struggle for laughs.  You can blame this on anything you like, some of which I would agree with and others I would push back on in principle.  Yes, that is a vague statement, but I do not intend to get political.  In any case, I remember seeing Tag (2018) in the theater, and had you asked me before tonight if I had already reviewed it for The Legionnaire, I would have sworn it was in the archives.  Before pushing play, I did a search and was somewhat pleased to find I had not written about it.  I cannot say I was totally psyched by this development because I forgot about its content.  Shame on me.  Because of my lapse in memory, I figured I was in for a raunchy comedy that would cause me to regret my choice in some parts.  While there is material in it that I wish it did not contain, by the end I was fondly smiling.  Hopefully, the rest of this treatment will explain my ultimate satisfaction, even in matters of Faith.

As Hogan “Hoagie” Malloy (Ed Helms) narrates, Tag is a game that he and four of his friends have been playing since they were kids.  Talking over a montage, we see them go from boys to adult men living in different parts of the country, but continuing a tradition set down when they are younger.  Because they no longer live in the same area, they restrict their activity to the month of May.  During that time, whoever is it can show up wherever another is, no matter what that person is doing,  and lay hands on their target, the other is then it.  The calendar has just turned to the merry month of May, and Hoagie is it.  Sitting in front Reggie (Lil Rey Howery), a building manager interviewing Hoagie for a janitorial position, we see the lengths to which they will go to get each other.  Hoagie has a PhD and a successful career, but he sees taking a lowly job cleaning toilets as the perfect cover for tagging his long-time friend Bob Callahan (Jon Hamm).  Bob is a successful chief executive officer (CEO) of a Fortune 500 company, and is about to meet with Rebecca Crosby (Annabelle Wallis), a reporter with the Wall Street Journal.  Hoagie interrupts their meeting and Rebecca is shocked by the lengths to which Bob goes to attempt an escape.  Once Hoagie’s mission is accomplished, he informs Bob of some disturbing news: Jerry Pierce (Jeremy Renner) intends to retire from the game.  Aside from the potential for losing contact with one of their closest pals, Jerry’s departure would mean that throughout all the years of competition, he will have never been it.  Every year all the others say they are going to get him, and every year they fail.  With a little more convincing, Bob immediately leaves with Hoagie to round up the others and head for their home town.  Sensing a more interesting story, Rebecca . . . um, tags along.  Sorry, I could not resist!  Their next friend to fall is the pot smoking Randy “Chilli” Cilliano (Jake Johnson).  This is when we meet Anna Malloy (Isla Fisher).  Despite not being allowed to participate owing to her sex (the game’s arcane rules stipulate no girls), she helps Bob and Hoagie nab Chilli.  Finally, they interrupt Kevin Sable’s (Hannibal Buress) therapy session to make him it and complete the foursome they believe they need to take on Jerry.  Their first try at tagging Jerry is set up by Anna calling the hall where he is supposed to have his rehearsal dinner for his upcoming nuptials and claiming that the event needs to be canceled.  After Jerry evades all their attempts at tagging him with ninja-like skill, he tells them the reason they had not been invited to his wedding is because of their continuing antics.  This is when his fiancée, Susan Rollins (Leslie Bibb), steps in, asking that the rules be amended so as to not ruin their big day.  This means that at any matrimony related activities, they are not to be reliving their childhoods in any fashion.  They all agree to this stipulation, but Jerry puts in place further fail safes.  Thus, at the previously mentioned rehearsal dinner, Bob and Chilli must deal with Cheryl Deakins (Rashida Jones), a woman they both had a crush on when they were younger.  She had been the one source of strife between the two, and it gives Jerry a window of escape whenever the others get close to nabbing him.  The trick is to figure out where he will be, information that he has been careful to avoid giving out to anyone.  The others go so far as to threaten water boarding Dave (Thomas Middleditch), the manager of the gym Jerry owns, before bribing him with $2500 for Jerry’s whereabouts.  They learn that Jerry attends Alcoholic Anonymous (AA) meetings at the local church.  They then proceed to cover all the exits, trapping him inside and content to wait out their slippery target despite it being his wedding day.  Jerry is saved by Susan, who is furious when she comes into the hall where they have blockaded Jerry before feigning a miscarriage to get him out.  That does not sound good, but they do not know it is fake until they get to the ceremony and Susan admits the ploy, showing her own competitive nature.  During the vows, Hoagie overhears venue staff talking about releasing doves just as they end, giving him a window of opportunity to strike.  Unfortunately, Jerry dodges the attempt and Hoagie lands on the floor unconscious.  As they gather around Hoagie’s hospital bed, he reveals that he has cancer and is unsure as to whether there will be another season of the game for him.  He had made up Jerry’s planned retirement to get them together one last time.  All is forgiven, and Jerry finally allows himself to be tagged, before we end with them all chasing each other around the hospital.

If adults running wild in a hospital playing Tag does not sound like Faith fodder, then that is the reason for this paragraph.  There are a couple moments that have direct ties to Catholicism.  The AA meeting appears to take place at a Catholic Church.  It is implied that the place in which Jerry barricades himself is not ideal because he can survive on Communion wine and wafers.  There are few other Christian denominations that have such features, but there is a further clue when, as the credits begin to roll, we see the picture of the real-life people to which the film owes its existence.  Incredibly, this is based on a true story.  Among the men in the photo is one dressed in priest clericals, Father Sean Raftis.  What I cannot say is true is Susan’s pregnancy ruse.  As a pro-life supporter, I was not thrilled by this aspect, but there is a subtle connection to the right side of the issue.  Later on, she is accused of murdering a child, which obviously could not happen since she is not carrying one in her womb, but the implication is that a life is ended in such a scenario, be it abortion or miscarriage.  When it comes to these arguments, I prefer not to use such criminal sounding rhetoric.  No one likes to be included in the same vein as a killer.  And because this movie has a more heartwarming ending, I would rather focus on happier aspects.  Though there is marijuana use and other suggestive scenes, the overarching theme pertains to the bonds between people that are sustained by mutual love.  It shows that we can compete with one another, essentially disagree, but still unite when it is needed.  A common Christian teaching I often come back to when talking about what it means to follow Jesus pertains to Matthew 18:3, when Jesus tells his disciples, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”  The parallel here is Hoagie telling us that there is a belief that when you get old, you stop playing games.  He turns this on its head, saying that you grow old when you stop playing games.  As I am sure Father Raftis would agree, playing games with a group of people you have known for so long is a little taste of Heaven.

As I discussed, there are some moments in Tag that are a little less than heavenly.  Luckily, aside from the bad language and Chilli’s near constant drug use, those moments can be safely ignored.  Otherwise, this is a solid movie that I would freely recommend to most audiences.