'That Awkward Moment' Brings The Laughs

 

By Darlene Donloe

That Awkward Moment is a male bonding film that, although it’s formulaic, has a lot of laughs.

Unfortunately, it’s weighed down with a bit too many unnecessary plot points and too much gratuitous, rapid-fire banter.  First-time writer-director Tom Gormican keeps the dialogue moving at such a rapid pace, that you really have to listen carefully or you’ll miss some of the dialogue.

The romantic comedy is about three best friends who all happen to be having relationship issues.  One of the issues is the fact that one of the friends doesn’t even realize he’s in a relationship until his girlfriend dumps him.

One of the friends, played by Michael B Jordan (Mikey), has a shaky marriage and is on the verge of divorce. In support of him the other two guys vow to maintain their single status for as long as possible.

Since the other friends, played by Zac Efron (Jason) and Miles Teller (Daniel) are only interested in superficial encounters anyway, they figure the vow is a piece of cake. Well, not so fast gents. Enter two women who essentially make them rethink the whole relationship thing.  The women are played by Imogen Poots and Mackenzie Davis, both of whom do standup jobs. Poots has some particularly strong moments as Ellie, a young publisher who thinks she might be in love with Jason.

 MICHAEL B. JORDAN

The bonding the three friends have is believable, although men watching each other urinate, or checking out a friend’s orange “package” isn’t something readily done by men. However, it’s hysterical in this movie.

What drives the movie is the word, ‘so.’ It’s apparently the word that every man dreads. It changes a relationship. ”So,” what are we doing? “So,” where is this relationship going?  “So,” where are we heading? It’s the nail in the coffin for some men who are then confronted with a ‘put a ring on it or we’re through’ scenario.

The movie is an attempt to tell a modern story about how love is done in 2014. If this is the way it’s done, love is going to be exhausting!!

Why is it that every comedy has to have unnecessary conflicts of one kind or another.  The movie winds its way through the muck and mire – but it doesn’t add anything to the story.

That Awkward Moment has some holes, but it’s full of good looking people offering up a number a laughs. It’s worth a watch.

That Awkward Moment, written and directed by Tom Gormican, stars Zac Efron, Michael B. Jordan, Miles Teller, Imogen Poots, Mackenzie Davis and Jessica Lucas.

On the DONLOE SCALE: D (don’t bother), O (oh, no), N (needs work), L (likeable), O (OK) and E (excellent), That Awkward Moment gets an O (OK).

The movie is Rated – R.  Running time: 94 minutes