On the surface, “That Awkward Moment” seems like a clichéd, yet solid romantic comedy, but a deeper look will highlight real problems.

After a cheesy opening that quickly jumps back in time to the real start of the movie, we are introduced to three twenty-somethings played by Zac Efron, Miles Teller, and Michael B. Jordan. At the beginning, Efron and Teller play two guys “living the dream” that try to never get too attached to one girl and immediately drop one that gets too attached to them. Jordan, on the other hand, plays a happily married doctor. That is until he walks in on his wife cheating on him with her lawyer. Now that the three friends from college are all single, they make a pact to stay that way. Building their “roster” of girls and hanging out with each other seems to be their main focus. Of the three, Efron’s character is more or less the main character of the film. He’s definitely the stereotypical “pretty boy” of the group, and he’s by far the biggest player. He has a large “roster” built up and we seem him at ease picking up girls. In an attempt to make us like him, we see him step and help out Imogen Poots’ character, who is being mercilessly hit on at the bar. After she is “saved,” they have a drink and go back to back to her apartment, only to have Efron’s character run away because he finds something out about her.

Through their further interactions throughout the film, it’s what we learn and what we don’t that is particularly telling. The one thing that is obvious throughout the movie is that Efron and Poots have terrific chemistry together, and it’s easy to see that their characters play well off each other. Unfortunately, we hardly learned anything about Poots’ character. The real problem of the film comes down to how characters react. Like with the characters of Efron and Poots, we don’t really learn much of anything about anyone, and as much as we are with them all for crucial moments, it doesn’t look like they learn much too. They all are terrific at conversing, especially Efron. It’s noted often how good he is at finding the right thing to say, so it’s hard to take his big speech at the end as genuine, even if it’s sure to leave many audience members misty-eyed.

While these problems do exist, the entertainment is still at surface level. The script is moderately funny throughout, and there are some moments that will bring out genuine laughter. All of the actors are very charismatic and play well off each other, and they bring out strong performances that could have been brought out with a better script.

by KRISTEN ELSAYEGH