That Awkward Moment

Zac "please take me seriously as an actor now" Efron, Michael B. "next big thing" Jordan and Miles "I play the same role in every film I'm in" Teller are three best friends in Manhattan, and they've got girl problems. Jordan has just found out his wife has been cheating on him, so Efron and Teller drag him back into the world of casual sex, all three vowing off relationships for the foreseeable future. Unfortunate timing, since all three then promptly find their potential dream girls, played by the likes Imogen Poots and Mackenzie Davis.

So they've got to keep up the pretence of singledom in front of each other, lest they reveal that they actually want to be in a relationship, which is (apparently) something you should only want if you are in possession of a vagina. There are quite a few issues with the underlying theme of That Awkward Moment, a movie which tries to be a hypermasculine version of Sex & The City, one where everyone is a Samantha. It also falls into the gap between the gross-out, genitalia fixated sex-comedy like American Pie and the more emotional, mature dramedy of 500 Days Of Summer, which was either a happy accident or a stroke of genius by debut writer/director Tom Gormican, as that pretty much perfectly sums up most males in their 20s.

For every one problem there is with the movie, such as the three leads going out looking for sex THE SAME DAY that Jordan's marriage comes to an end, or the fact that the three best friends just aren't very good friends to each other, there are also some great, genuinely insightful moments. When Efron finds himself Facebook stalking for hours on end, or the (kinda) forward thinking idea of Davis playing hot-girl wing-man for the guys, or Poots replacing "Manic Pixie Dreamgirl" with "Girl Who Plays Xbox And Drinks Whiskey And Is Just One Of The Guys" (or "Guy Girl" for short); these moments help the film stand out from the guys-looking-to-get-get-laid comedy subgenre.

Coasting by, thanks to the warm, likeable performances and chemistry of all involved, as well as a few genuine laugh-out-loud scenes, That Awkward Moment is worthy first-date material. Just don't go expecting to fall in love with it.