February 7, 2014
 
It’s about being there for each other, that’s all relationships are, being there for each other. If we all followed this simple rule, we’d be OK, as the characters in That Awkward Moment figured out all too quickly. If you look past the fact that these 20-something people are living in fantastic apartments with great jobs in New York City, then you will thoroughly enjoy this romantic comedy that’s cleverly packaged as some sort of bro-mance film.
 
The film starts at the end with Jason (Zac Efron) on a park bench at 2 a.m. in NYC waiting for someone. We don’t learn who until the end of the film, but he takes us back a few months to explain. He and his two buddies, Mikey (Michael B. Jordan), and ER doctor, and Daniel (Miles Teller), his best friend and co-worker at a publishing house, make an unofficial pact to remain single, as Mikey, who married young, is getting a divorce after his wife cheated on him.
 
Confused yet? Basically, Mikey returning to singledom is a reason for them all to be man-whores. Except, that Mikey has hope that he and his ex will get back together after they hook up in a room at the hospital. He, of course, keeps this a secret from the guys and pretends he’s hooking up with glasses girl, a girl he met at the bar. Meanwhile, Daniel starts hooking up with his wingwoman Chelsea (Mackenzie Davis), but doesn’t want to tell anyone, which causes friction when he lies to Chelsea about it.  And Jason starts falling for Ellie (Imogen Poots), a girl he meets at a bar and mistakenly thinks is a hooker after their one-night stand. Why on earth she actually goes out with him after he tells her this is beyond me. But then again Efron is pretty decent looking, so I guess that’s part of the charm.
 
As the guys fall deeper in love with their women, they keep up the charade and rib each other when they think the other guys are breaking the pact. It all comes to a head when Ellie’s father dies unexpectedly. Jason doesn’t really know if he should go or not. Mikey, the sensible one, tells him yes. Daniel tells him no. In the end, he skips the funeral, which was a horrible, horrible decision, especially considering he met the girl’s parents a few days before. Meanwhile, Mikey learns that his wife is still seeing the other guy because she just doesn’t love him anymore. And when the guys find out about Daniel seeing Chelsea, they are pissed he lied, as is she.  A few days later, after the blow up, Jason seeks out Ellie, who informs him that he wasn’t there for her, which is all she wanted.
 
But after a few months, the guys reunite with each other and their women. They basically realized they have to grow up and leave behind their lives of sleeping around and not committing to one woman. Again, I really don’t know why Ellie took Jason back, but I guess that’s what love is about. Forgiving them when they hurt you, in the hope that they won’t do it again. And usually, the person doing the hurting doesn’t ever want to put their lover through that pain again.
 
Ah. The romantic part of me really liked this film. The realistic person wanted to throw popcorn at the screen. But seriously, That Awkward Moment has a lot of not only awkward moments, but also funny and sappy. I really like the scene where the guys try to pee with Viagra still in their system. Oh, I’m pretty sure men have done this before, which is what made the scene even funnier. I wasn’t too happy to hear the part about keeping a roster and phasing women out when they get clingy, but hey, I’m sure it happens too.  I really do like the overall theme of just being there for something. I really struck a chord with me. And it’s sad to think that I’ll take love advice from a rom-com, but someone had to write that, which means that it must be true.
 
All in all. If you’re looking for a rom-com, check this one out, if not for the pretty boys of Efron and Jordan.