Which isn’t to say that it’s bad, just that at some level you know what’s coming. Tag never transcends the basic fact of being the kind of movie with a slow-motion rap walk scene, and even when it’s decently funny and reasonably entertaining (which it usually is!), it remains ever constrained by the basic shticky irreality of the format. It’s in virtually every studio comedy movie these days, from Bad Moms to Neighbors. And to make matters worse, the Rebecca storyline, despite its initial intentions to be something more, is more often used as fuller than not.At its core, Tag is a movie in which a group of actors will make a slow-motion entrance set to a vintage rap song at some point. Unfortunately, much of the goofiness undercuts the one serious message that, by design, audiences will undoubtedly know is coming before it hits them. This movie is very much what most viewers probably think it is: a goofy and unserious comedy that ends on a warm note about friendship. Yet on the other hand, Rebecca’s decision to tag along with the group as they try to catch Jerry–and interviewing all the players and their wives, parents and friends along the way– Tag also presents a wildly different format that isn’t always compatible. This particular strain dominates throughout much of Tag, right up until the very end, which this review obviously won’t spoil. On the one hand, by beginning with Hoagie’s ridiculous attempt to tag Bob in his company’s own building during his initial interview with Rebecca, the film sets up its core story about these friends and their wildly ludicrous game.

Namely, Tag is trying to be multiple movies at once. In many ways, she is, but the film doesn’t begin or end with her, resulting in one of the comedy’s most glaring issues. (So if you were hoping for something along the lines of Ocean’s 8, you’re out of luck.) Even so, the inclusion of Wallis’ outsider Rebecca, whose documentation of the events that follow informs much of the plot, feels like Tag is trying to position her as the audience’s representative. Leslie Bibb, Rashida Jones, and Nora Dunn round out the film’s integral supporting roles for women, but that about does it.

(And whose name sounds a lot like “anomaly.”) Meanwhile, Isla Fisher ( Wedding Crashers) plays Helms’ wife Anna Malloy, a fiercely competitive woman who frequently holds her own among the boys. Annabelle Wallis ( The Mummy) plays Wall Street Journal reporter Rebecca Crosby, whose interview with Bob at his company quickly transforms into a profile of the group’s juvenile-yet-hilarious game. Seeing as how this is a male-dominated storyline, the filmmakers saw fit to introduce several prominent female characters to try and balance things out. He bribes the townsfolk, employs some golf course groundskeepers for an elaborate trap, and enacts sadistic mind games throughout. The thing is, as Sable explains during the group’s attempt to catch their target off-guard in his own home, “Our friend is a psychopath.” (Buress’ character, who reigns as one of Tag’s funniest performers, also calls Renner’s antagonist a “maniac.”) They quickly discover their already-impossible-to-catch friend has upped his participation significantly. To do this, they’ll crash Jerry’s wedding–which they apparently weren’t invited to because of the its May date and the game–and take him by surprise.

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