Romantic comedies have had something of a facelift of recent years, with studios feeling the pressure to appeal to both male and female comedies (becuase girls are only interested in rom-coms about shoes and getting married obviously-but thats another post). So with that in mind That Awkward Moment aims to appeal to both sexes, with a look at bromances and plenty of nudity and sex alongside the romance. But will this tactic work, and more importantly be funny?
When their friend Mikey (Michael B. Jordan) find outs his wife wants a divorce, his best pals Jason (Zac Efron) and Daniel (Miles Teller) make a pact to stay single with him. However soon all three are left in complicated romantic entaglements that threaten their quest for singlehood.
You can probably tell from the synopisis whether or not this will be your type of film. On the positive side, the bromance between the three guys works, which is good as a lot of time is spent in their company, and the three leads make a believeable group of friends. Their respective romances meanwhile has mixed results.
Although there were some chemsitry between Jason (Efron) and Ellie (Imogine Potts) and their romance had some sweet and funny moments, the main problem is that Jason is a major douche. I just didn’t think Ellie should accept Jason back after he blows her off when she really needs him. It was bad enough he mistook her for a prostitute (in one of the many moments that don’t come across as believeable) after they first slept together, are we really meant to believe she would then take him back for something even more unforgiveable later? He would have to work a lot harder than that.
Luckily the other two guys were more likebale with Mikey being the most sympathetic of the three and Daniel being probably the funniest. In fact I was more invested with Daniel’s relationship with gal pal Chelsea (Mckensie Davis) than with Jason and Ellie. While you really feel for Mikey as he gets messed around by his ex wife and struggles to get bakc into the dating world, his situation with his wife is a bit predictable and doesn’t really go anywhere that interesting.
Sometimes the script has a tendancy to replace comedy and character development with crude jokes about sex and hopes that no one will notice. It’s this overeliance which may alienate some viewers. It feels at times that the filmakers were not confident enough with its talented cast and kept putting in the dick jokes just in case.
I expect my opinion will be in the minority as I’ve seen this film get a lot of hate since it’s been released, and yes it’s not particularly original or mind-blowingly hilarious. However for me, That Awkward Moments does have enough funny set peieces and one liners to stop it slipping into just another crude, witless comedy.
Rating 3/5-a fun if not hugely original or realistic take on modern relationships
Good review Lauren. I didn’t mind this one like so many others did, and I think that’s because I was charmed by these guys. They made me laugh and like them, even if they were practically what all high school males aspire to grow up to be like, but never, ever actually become.
Yeah I thought the friendship between the guys was one of the better aspects of the film. Thanks for commenting.
Nice job, Lauren! This might be the most positive review I’ve seen of this one. I’m tempted to check it out. I have a secret fondness for Zefron. Shhhh don’t tell. 😉
I have to confess I have a secret fondness for Efron too since I saw him in The Lucky One, so you’re not alone!
This really doesn’t sound like it would be for me! I’m glad there’s are people like you that watch this kind of stuff so I don’t have to 🙂
What can I say I’m pretty much prepared to watch most types of films. Unless it’s nasty torture movies then I’m out.
I agree I can’t watch torture movies either. Or anything with Kate Hudson in it!
Poor Kate Hudson-I think big things were expected of her after Almost Famous but she’s seems to be making a career out of so-so rom-com (well her and Katherine Higel seem to be sharing out the duff roles between them).
She needs to fire her agent!
When I saw the trailerfor this around 2 months ago I thought it might be a good watch, but upon further thought and some mixed reception from critics and fans I’ve decided to give this one a miss. I only wanted to see it to see what Efron and Jordan are up to these days, but the rom-com genre is still one that keeps me at bay haha. Great review yo. 🙂
Thanks. I liked the film but I think I will be in the minority. I do think some of the reviews were a bit harsh as I thought the actors were good and there were some funny bits in it. But its definatley not one that everyone will enjoy.
I will agree with the witless comedy but otherwise the movie fell flat for me. Zac Efron really starts looking like an ewok when he has facial hair. Good review!
Its definately not for everyone this movie but I had mindless fun watching it. Thanks for commenting.