Starring: Zac Efron, Imogen Poots, Miles Teller
Mikey (Michael B. Jordan) has just left his wife (Jessica Lucas) and so his single friends Jason (Efron) and Daniel (Teller) make a pledge to not get into any serious relationships whilst Mikey is unattached. The plan quickly falls apart once Jason develops feelings for the intellectual Ellie (Poots) and Daniel starts seeing his friend Chelsea (Mackenzie Davis) and Mikey has an affair with his ex-wife. Will the three (especially Jason) be able to maintain their relationships and their friendship?
Perhaps there is no better word to describe That Awkward Moment than the second word in its title. The screenplay for That Awkward Moment has sort of been drifting in the ether for several years, having the reputation of a potentially good film that had yet to be realised. Unfortunately, what has made it to the screen seems to be a plot that has no idea of to whom it belongs.
Our three male leads fit the bill as the leads in your typical low-brow "bro" comedy (Miles Teller having starred in the almost perfect example, 21 & Over (2013)) but also live lives in New York penthouse apartments and the film is peppered with references for Boyz N The Hood (1991) and The Story Of O; a strange disparity that whilst not out of the realms of reality makes for a jarring clash.
The adolescent nature of the humour means that it's a rather acquired taste that will leave people frustrated when the humour just doesn't fall completely flat and the dramatic elements clearly try to be more stirring than they are. The film also, controversially, addressees marriage and parenthood as bad things, tacitly portraying them as the end of any kind of fun or youthfulness. The nature of the three central relationships is still fairly balanced and dealt with in an even pace pace, and whilst no-one delivers a stunning performance, the actors seem to be making the most of the rather sketchy and inconsistent material, but the central problem is that of a film lacking in a firm sense of what it is or wants to accomplish.
Next time, we're in the world of Lego, where Chris Pratt discovers that he may not be just a normal faceless construction worker but a Messianic hero in The Lego Movie.
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