Review: That Awkward Moment (2014)

Snap Judgment: That awkward moment...when you realize a crappy movie isn't going to get better. This is the story of three man-children, lead by Zac Efron, as they fail to navigate love and life. It is truly a cautionary tale about what happens when you have poor communication skills. Also what happens when you squander appealing actors with good chemistry by putting them in a movie with horrible, juvenile writing.
 
Zac Efron and his bestie Miles Teller (The Spectacular Now) spend their days designing book covers and their nights hunting girls to bang. Look, there is nothing wrong with single adult men and women who just want casual, physical relationships. But Zac Efron and Miles Teller come across less like fun, open guys and more like they were part of the 10% of college men who think it's acceptable to have sex with a girl who is incapacitated drunk.

Zac Efron and Miles Teller are joined on their escapades by Michael B. Jordan (Fruitvale Station), completely wasting his talent by playing a married doctor whose wife reveals she's been cheating on him and wants a divorce. Michael B. Jordan is unhappy that he's checked all the boxes (career! marriage! power couple!) and now he's left with nothing but the ashes. Michael B. Jordan never realizes that his problem was that he failed to check the box of "good communication with your partner," as witnessed by the fact that: (a) they never talked about how she was unhappy with his lack of spontaneity and recent lack of sex [hey, at least she didn't make a spreadsheet]; (b) he never talks to her about the adultery; & (c) he tries to reconcile, and never asks if she is also trying to save the marriage or just having fun. Michael B. Jordan, you were maybe the only decent human being in this movie. I'm sorry your plotline was so awful.
 
Zac Efron and Miles Teller are shitty to their boss (an older guy trying too hard to be cool), shitty at their jobs (what do women want on book covers? shoes! so brilliant and clever and original! oh, wait. no, no this is not clever. shoes on book covers happen all the fucking time.), and shitty to the women in their lives. They do seem to be pretty good friends to each other, and Michael B. Jordan, though. So at least they can do something in their lives right.

Because this is some kind of twisted rom com, Zac Efron of course eventually falls for a girl played by Imogen Poots. He also of course fucks it up by being himself. But then he realizes that, no! he loves her! he needs to be with her! and tries to win her back with the kind of awkward grand gesture that rom com movies adore. (meanwhile Miles Teller is mired in his subplot of hooking up/falling for his female wingwoman, which was so boring and painful I'm just going to ignore it for the rest of the review. His other subplot is that he takes a shit every time he comes over to Zac Efron's place. That is the level of comedy in this movie).

This is one of the few movies I remember ever actively rooting AGAINST the main couple. I was hoping that Imogen Poots would end this movie by walking up to Zac Efron and telling him, "You know what? Grow up on your own fucking time. It's not my job to help you learn how to be a man." Sadly, she looks like she's buying what he's selling. Imogeon Poots, you are a gorgeous, fun, adventurous, smart, successful, funny, warm, fierce woman. The world agrees that Zac Efron has great abs, but great abs alone don't make a happy relationship. Girl, you deserve a man, not a man-child. You can surely find a man who: (a) doesn't think you are a literal whore because you have sexy boots and boxes of condoms [yes, Zac Efron tells everyone she is a prostitute and runs away from their one night stand because he thinks, what? she's tainted goods? he's afraid she'll make him pay? he's embarrassed?]; (b) doesn't  treat you like a girlfriend after wooing you back, but still makes booty calls to other girls; (c) doesn't refuse to support you during a family crises.

The underlying moral here for all the guys is: be honest with yourself and with the other person about what you really want. Clear communication is key. If you want purely physical relationships with several people, say that! There are people of both genders who also want that. Frankly, since Zac Efron's character is attractive but sounds like a slick douchebag every time he opens his mouth, he's the perfect target for ladies who just want a casual physical relationship (and this is NYC, those ladies are prowling the bars looking for you, Zac Efron). There's no reason Zac Efron needs to lead ladies on to believe that he's dating them (possibly monogamously) when he has no intention of that. That's just being grossly dishonest.  And the underlying moral here for all the ladies is the same: be honest with yourself and with the other person about what you really want. Do you want a boyfriend and not just a hookup? Tell him! Don't assume that if you sleep with him enough that he has fallen in love and wants to date. Do you want a casual physical relationship? Say that straight up. It can be awkward and embarrassing and maybe you will hurt the other person's feelings because they want to be in a different place than you, but it saves grief later. Letting someone know that you don't want what they want up front can hurt, but nothing cuts quite as deep as betrayal. This entire movie could have been avoided if all the main players had learned their lessons about communication earlier on. And, really, that in itself should be enough to encourage more honest communication.  

Grade: F

Final Verdict: Zac Efron, Miles Teller, and Michael B. Jordan have great chemistry together and tried desperately to save this movie. That was a Sisyphean task given the shoddy writing and the painful plotlines. 

Also, to be clear, when I talk about Zac Efron, Miles Teller, and Michael B. Jordan in this review I am mainly writing about their characters. I have no doubt that the actors themselves are lovely people and not the self-involved pricks that they portrayed. 

If you like this, watch: The Hangover, Wedding Crashers, American Pie, Hot Tub Time Machine, or some other bro comedy with a likeable cast.