You know how guys are always like “grrrr… I don’t want to be in a relationship” and girls are always like “where is this headed, let’s go on a cruise with my parents.” Well somebody finally had the guts – that’s right the guts! – to make a movie about it.
And so enters That Awkward Moment, a paint-by-number romantic comedy about “the guy’s” perspective when it comes to relationships and dating. Jason (Zac Efron) and his friend Daniel (Miles Teller) are two book cover designers – yes, they’re the two people in the world who do that for a living – who enjoy shuffling through their “roster” of hookups. Also, they live in New York City… because this is a romantic comedy.
When their friend Mikey (Michael B. Jordan) is left by his wife – because where would the movie be if Jason and Daniel didn’t have someone who’s been out of the game for a while to explain things to – the three make a pact to stay single. And so begins a journey of everyone falling in love and entering into committed relationships.
If you’re wondering why all of that sounds pretty familiar it’s because you’ve seen this movie before. A few of the details may be switched around but it’s largely the same story. Young people with contrived jobs and apartments far too nice for the city they are living in, meet someone when they aren’t expecting it, develop a relationship, briefly screw up that relationship, and then get it back just in time for the credits to roll.
I’m not throwing all romantic comedies under the bus here. Every once in a while one of them finds a novel way to break the mould or is just funny enough to make one forget the mould exists at all. But That Awkward Moment just doesn’t reach either of those ideals…
It has its moments (plenty of them awkward… high five!). It’s a movie that loves to come up with its own quirky dating constructs and some of those can be funny. But the movie seems to miss more than it hits, and since this isn’t baseball that’s an issue.
Perhaps one of the problems is that That Awkward Moment wants to be a much raunchier movie than it actually is, which doesn’t make a ton of sense considering it’s an R-rated comedy. But there’s not too much here other than a few male enhancement drugs and some frank discussions of sex. It pales in comparison to anything Judd Apatow or The Hangover movies have done over the past few years.
Jason isn’t a particularly strong character either. Efron himself seems to be playing two different people entirely – your run of the mill crude bachelor and a man of your dreams type – and the transition between them isn’t particularly smooth. The result is a character arc that feels stilted and uneven.
Even if it can make you smile every now and then That Awkward Moment fails to produce any real insight into modern relationships, instead opting for a collection of stale genre conventions and tired dating clichés. Unless you’re a real sucker for romantic comedies, there’s not much here worth watching.
Final Score: 1.5/5