Is this really what having relationships today is like? Just another reason I’m glad I’ve been out of the dating game for over 18 years.
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“That Awkward Moment” stars Zac Efron, Miles Teller, and Michael B. Jordan as three friends trying to come to terms with the relationships in their lives and how they affect their future. After one of them gets burned the three make a pact to live the single life for as long as they can. Yes, it’s a lame cliche, but man if there weren’t some things about this movie I liked.
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Primary among them, I’m just a sucker for good chemistry and these three have it. In fact I love all three of these guys. I remember Miles Teller as the standout performance in the Footloose redo, and Michael B. Jordan has been absolutely wonderful in movies like Chronicle and Fruitvale Station. The two of them play perfectly off of the charming Zac Efron making for a brosome of three that just seems like a blast to hang out with. The writing gives them a boost as well with some extremely clever, though at times extremely vulgar, things to say and ways to say them. I also liked that though the morals gave a mixed message throughout the film, it closed with a pretty clear ode to what true love really looks like that landed with much more emotional impact than I had anticipated.
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So does that mean it’s great? Not by a long shot. The problem is that a lot of that fun is somewhat short circuited by the many movie cliches we are forced to revisit. In fact, each of the three find themselves in a well worn movie romance conundrum, playing out stories of love it feels like we have heard 1000 times before. Not only that, but the worst thing, is that the whole plot centers around a bet. Seriously, how many more times do we have to see the guy makes bet, guy finds girl, guy hurts girl because of bet, guy finds redemption storyline? Apparently at least three more times in this movie alone. Enough of this already, we’re done with it. In addition, I felt like the Zac Efron character especially was a pretty awful excuse for a human being through much of this movie, so it made it harder to root for him even as he started to change.
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At the end of the day, “That Awkward Moment” is a cliche ridden and often raunchy look at issues of intimacy and love with very little to say that we haven’t seen said before. Yet three solid actors with some really fun chemistry and clever dialogue are enough to stretch it to a C+
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Thanks for checking out this Your Movie Friend review, stay tuned for this review’s “Best Ever” challenge here in bit but first, I’m going to put up some stuff you can click over in this area. If you’d like to subscribe, which I would much appreciate, you can do so by clicking the big gray subscribe button. Want to see more? You can click here to see reviews for Gimme Shelter, Devil’s Due, or the new Jason Reitman movie Labor Day. You can also Click the logo up here to go to yourmoviefriend.com where you can search by title for reviews. And finally this review’s “Best Ever” Challenge, where you name the best movie ever in a particular category and also try to identify my choice. This time name “the best movie ever with a cast member from High School Musical”. Since I’m reviewing two alums this week (Vanessa Hudgens in Gimme Shelter is the other) might as well. Mine will probably be a controversial choice but was directed by the man now in charge Clark Kent and the gang. Drop your own answer and a guess at mine in the comments and first person to guess mine gets a point! Thanks and don’t forget to subscribe!