That Awkward Moment (2014)

The concept behind making a succesful romantic comedy seems quite simple: Cast some good-looking, popular men, add love interest(s) and create some obstacles that prevent the love to blossom into a relationship. That Awkward Moment seems to have all those ingredients right: The men here are Zac Effron, Michael B. Jordan (Fruitvale Station) and Miles Teller (The Spectacular Now), the love interests Imogen Poots , Mackenzie Davis and Jessica Lucas and the main obstacle here is the agreement the three men have made that they will stay single. With the basic ingredients right does it have enough spice to make this a movie worth watching?

First indication seems like it might have as the three main actors have great chemistry, playing nicely off each other. When Mikey (Michael B. Jordan) finds out that his wife wants a divorce his two friends Jason (Zac Effron) en Daniel (Miles Teller) agree that they will all stay single as long as he is. It means they can go out and as soon as that awkward moment comes where a woman asks the big question which starts with “So…” and is about the relationship they should break it off immediately. The promise is easily made, but keeping it turns out to be difficult when they realise they start to develop feelings for women they are having fun with.

As this is a romantic comedy I have to admit that my expectations were not that high. I actually went to see it just to kill some time before going to a concert and this was the only movie playing at the right time. As time progressed I started realising that I am probably not part of the target audience. I think the movie is aiming more at teenagers and people in their twenties. The jokes rarely hit their target for me and some situations these guys ended up in just felt strange to me. For example, I have never experienced guys showing their genitals to each other acting like that is something normal to do. The romantic stories do have their charming moments, but nothing you haven’t seen before. Because the movie tries to keep three stories going and seems to mainly focus on the story about Jason the two others are simply underdeveloped. That Awkward Moment might have its moments (some which actually aren’t awkward), but as a whole I would not immediately recommend seeing this film.