That Awkward Moment

It's a new month so you know what that means! A new Coming Soon over at J&J Productions! Go ahead and check it out HERE and comment on it letting James and myself know what you're excited for at the movies in February.

We end January with a movie that I really wasn't expecting much out of, but I was hoping it would be something special.

That Awkward Moment is currently getting lambasted by critics (pretty unfairly) for being overly crude, unfunny, stupid, etc.

In all honesty I can see where they are coming from, but from a young male's perspective, That Awkward Moment actually does a decent job at portraying the different types of males and females in the current relationship pool.

Is it worth your time? Well I suppose that is more up to you to decide by the end of this review. It's neither terrible nor does it reinvent the relationship movie genre in the slightest. But its [mostly] great cast does their best to try and bring life to it and make it seem as real and relatable as possible, even if the script and screenplay don't always help them in their endeavor.

"Dude I totally would do a High School Musical sequel with you!"

"I put laxative in your coffee!"
"Samsies!"

What That Awkward Moment does manage to get right is its eventual ending message. For most of the film, these three guys, Jason (Efron), Daniel (Teller), and Mikey (Jordan) come across as assholes. At first I was fairly annoyed. The film certainly does no favors for the male gender if women only stick around for the first half. It makes us look like pigs, insensitive jerks, arrogant, etc. Which I don't argue, many guys are that way. As one of those guys who never really saw the "fun" or "advantage" to treating girls like crap, it was starting to tick me off a bit but by the end of the film these three learn that you can't act like that if you really want a woman to stick around and be a part of your life. Certainly no amazing revelation for anyone looking for relationship advice, but nonetheless it was a well done, if not clichéd, setup to get to delivering the moral point of the film. I enjoyed most of the cast, particularly the three male leads. Despite what your opinions of Efron may be, he is actually a very talented guy. Teller and Jordan have been making some pretty big waves lately with their acting chops and while there isn't any challenging material here, they handle themselves like pros. All of the girls in the movie fit well with each guy except for Jason's girl, Ellie. This may come across as super shallow, and it kind of is to be honest, but I just really didn't think that Imogen Poots was that attractive in this film. She had on gobs of mascara and messy hair making her look somewhat like a drug addict. She held her own acting-wise but I couldn't help but ask myself what Efron saw in this girl. I'm sure she is much prettier in real life but I really wasn't digging her style on screen. That may just be me though.

"Guys I know it smells bad in here...but it was her fault."

Where That Awkward Moment unfortunately fails, and fails rather hard I might say, is with its comedy. From a comedic standpoint, the script is atrocious and the screenplay is almost as bad. So many of the jokes feel so forced and overthought. Additionally I think that the director wanted to have some "ad-lib" segments in the film that are usually best done by the likes of Will Ferrell, Jonah Hill, etc. Miles Teller, who is actually pretty funny, holds his own in these segments, but Efron and Jordan do not. It's unfortunate because there are actually a few funny jokes and scenarios to be had here (a "Rock out with your cock out" costume being the highlight) but they are deeply buried in a mound of jokes that don't even warrant a smile. This strange attempt at comedy also leads to a noticeable imbalance in the movie's tone. At times it wants to be a raunchy (and trust me when I say that it could barely be considered raunchy...apparently all mainstream critics quickly forgot how out of control The Wolf of Wall Street was) male comedy, at times it wants to be a girly rom-com, and other times I'm not sure it even knows what it wants. At the end of the day it just feels like they tried to fit a bunch of different genres into it and didn't pull off any of them with great success.

As I say with many movies of this caliber: you could certainly do worse at the theaters than That Awkward Moment. It has some redeeming qualities and all in all I thought it was a pretty quick, semi-fun trip to the theater. You won't remember it three weeks from now and you are bound to see it edited for TV some day.

For me at least it continued to prove that Jordan, Teller, and Efron are going to be stars for a long time to come. And that was enough to warrant the matinee admission.

AND GO BRONCOS!!! BRONCOS! BRONCOS! BRONCOS!!

UNITED IN ORANGE!!!

Hey Seahawks! I'm coming for ya!

CONS:

• Very unfunny. I think that I probably could have written a better script and the decision to let non-comedians ad-lib was a poor one. I laughed at some jokes simply because they fell so hard on their face
• I really wasn't digging Imogen Poots as Efron's love interest. Her style in the movie was so off putting...
• A cliché movie despite its attempts not to be
• With a cast this talented I cant help but think this was a missed opportunity at a really great movie

PROS:

• A couple of the jokes and scenarios are pretty funny. Keyword: "couple"
• The majority of the cast is strong. Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, and Zac Efron are all young, talented dudes and they hold their own here
• Has some valid things to say about relationships in this day and age. There are some aspects that were painfully accurate and as a young male I found most of it very relatable. The way it constructs its moral relationship advice/message is smart and well done
• Features a pretty good soundtrack that has songs that fit the moment. Always like to see that in a film

 

 

Rath's Review Score: 6/10