That Awkward Moment
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“That Awkward Moment” is a contrived, immature comedy that never quite reaches the level of obscenity and awkwardness that it promised.
The film features three best friends — Jason, Daniel and Mikey — who are living up their post-college playboy lifestyle in the heart of New York City.
After Mikey’s (Michael B. Jordan) marriage takes a turn for the worse, the best friends make a pact to avoid any semblance of heart-snagging romance.
Through their dating excursions, they get wrapped up in relationships with underwritten and underused female characters.
With their prospective ladyloves, the boys end up selfishly tackling their commitment problems. However, the main characters aren’t nearly as fleshed our as they should be, so their attempts come across as obnoxious and shallow.
Thankfully, the cast is an overabundance of eye candy. Zac Efron, still attempting to break out of Disney’s shadow and show comedic chops, plays the studly book cover designer, Jason.
Miles Teller plays the snarky and hilarious Daniel, who is portrayed as the most realistic of the trio. Jordan is the most stable and boring of the two as Mikey, the sensitive married doctor.
Teller, the Sundance treasure, continues to rise on the stardom scale as he effortlessly floats between comedic and dramatic roles. Both Efron and Jordan depend on him to provide the most laughs.
He makes the most of the dry script and his performance doesn’t come across as forced.
“That Awkward Moment” remains confused in what kind of comedy it wants to be. The premise of the film had potential, but falls short of anything groundbreaking. Too much time is devoted to conventional, run-of-the-mill laughs rather than jokes that stir the pot with any flavor.
As much as the film harps on the question of, “So…where is this going?” in relationships, you’ll find yourself asking the same exact question throughout the entire film.
— Avery Thompson
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