Jason (Zac Efron), Daniel (Miles Teller) and Mikey (Michael B. Jordan) are three bachelors living together in New York. When Mikey splits from his long-term girlfriend, the others pledge to stay single to help him mend his broken heart. The single life involves the gang hitting the local night life, but when Jason starts seeing Ellie (Imogen Poots) more and more, the other guys feel that the old agreement is disappearing.
From the outside, That Awkward Moment possibly resembles a male version of Sex And The City. It has three leads that are at different stages of their careers, but they all help to push it beyond standard indie rom-com fare. Zac Efron (the megastar), Michael B Jordan (the one to watch) and Miles Teller (the surprise package) look more like a boy-band than three bachelors. Here they combine brilliantly with authentic male bromance that stretches beyond the usual bounds of rom-coms.
Setting out as a comedy more than a romance, we see the guys chatting up ladies in bars with smooth lines and cool moves. It’s fun to watch but could have become tiresome if this continued; however the film soon adjusts and settles into a more romantic groove that follows each male actually finding the right lady for them. Mikey, Daniel and Jason all have their reservations, most of all Jason, about how they should be working these relationships beyond the initial honeymoon period. Asking the ultimate question – where is this going? – is not what any of them want to ask or be asked. There is no great underlying secret here. Rather just a straight up film that says boys need to get their heads on straight and know what they want.
All three of the men do excellent work on their own characters. Teller has the defensive comedy streak that doesn’t allow Daniel to get too close to the woman he loves. Mikey struggles with the breakup as most males would if they had been ditched by their one true love, Jordan’s puppy-dog attitude exposes what a love stricken person he is. Efron’s Jason is the alpha male of the gang, a Fonz-like man who can easily get the women but who isn’t interested in keeping them. Yet when true love comes calling he lacks the knowledge to be sincere about it until it’s too late.
All three of them bounce of each other with vigour, hilarity and wit and shows what it takes to make a bromance work. Female support comes from Imogen Potts and Mackenzie Davis; these two ladies do just enough to drive the boys crazy without overplaying each role.
That Awkward Moment as a rom-com could be seen as being more geared towards men, but it’s got a balance that strikes nicely for both sexes. The three leads are funny, heart warming and heart breaking. This is a perfect date night movie that transplants the new Ross, Chandler and Joey into a modern day Fast Times At Ridgemont High.
