That Awkward Moment ** (2014, Zac Efron, Michael B Jordan, Miles Teller, Imogen Poots, Mackenzie Davis) – Movie Review

Zac Efron, Miles Teller and Michael B Jordan star in That Awkward Moment (2014) as Jason, Daniel and Mikey, three best friends who find themselves at that confusing moment in dating relationships when you have to ask the awkward question ‘where this is going?’ The 20something bromancing buddies make a pact to stay single, with the golden rule being you can’t see the same girl more than twice a week.

The women in the men’s lives are a mixed and varied bunch. Imogen Poots is Ellie, Mackenzie Davis is Chelsea and Jessica Lucas is Vera. Jason likes the look of Ellie, but mistakes his new date for a hooker for no good reason at all. She’s got The Story of O, cash and condoms by her bedside. As I say, no good reason at all.

Ellie’s dad dies, but Jason ducks out of going to the funeral because ‘if I do, then we’re dating’. Ellie somehow overlooks all this appalling behaviour, probably because Jason is played by Zac Efron, and he looks exceptionally tasty. Admittedly very smug and smirky as well, but still very tasty.

Anyway, so at least we can say then that a decent cast are assembled, all up and running and raring to go.

The awkward’s thing’s the screenplay by writer-director Tom Gormican that moves between Carry On-style sex farce, with Efron appearing at length with a huge rubber penis out of his pants and lads-on-the-loo humour, via a breezy girly romcom and thankfully on to some warmer, more thoughtful, character-based comedy.

It just can’t work out what kind of film to go for, so it goes for everything that it thinks might raise a laugh, and ends up a mess without an individual personality, any easy-going charm or an infectious sense of fun. With men pursuing their selfish desires, and begging for sympathy for them, its attitudes to women are pretty dodgy, and it’s all very old-fashioned seeming.

Efron’s a very good actor, as well as one of the nicer looking individuals on the planet, so he is worth a look and will no doubt bring the fans in. But, just this one time, even he’s defeated. Looking cute and smirking can’t get him over the bumps in a script that has thrown his comic timing off. Teller’s smugger, more aggressive kind of comedy doesn’t pay off here at all. He’s responsible for a lot of the charm-free part of the movie.

Jordan ‘s fine, quite amusing really, mostly quite funny, probably the most relaxed and comfortable of the three. The game-for-anything Poots comes off quite well, though it’s easy to feel sorry for the actresses, who are just subordinated to the men’s enormous appetites and egos.

It’s like one of those American TV sitcoms that has a good cast and a good situation but you’re just sitting around waiting for the laughs to start, like How I Met Your Mother, for example. It’s all over in 94 minutes, harmless minutes that don’t drag and do raise some laughs.

And Efron and Poots do make quite a cute odd couple. But next day you won’t be able to remember a thing about the film. Except for Efron’s rubber penis, of course.

It cost little at $8,000,000, and did quite well, taking $45,640,143 worldwide.

© Derek Winnert 2014 derekwinnert.com