If Zac Efron doesn’t sing any more, do we still care about his work? No, I’d really like to know. Does this guy have a future or not? Where do we rank him with others who’ve made the successful transition from pop to Hollywood, like Mark Wahlberg and Justin Timberlake? When he’s naked plank-like on a toilet bowl (to pee through Viagra in case you wanted to know) are we titillated? Amused? Aroused? Embarrassed? Bored? I went with amused. Ok, score one for That Awkward Moment.
Jason (Efron) is a bachelor. A successful bachelor. He manages to have sex with several different women concurrently, which is a helluva stunt; in retrospect, it’s not half the stunt of being able to afford a mid-town Manhattan apartment on a book jacket designer’s salary. Jason is soooo committed to the bachelor lifestyle, he has to be told he’s having a relationship. Sometimes, he finds out with the breakup, which he calls the “So …” moment. (e.g. “So … where is this going?”) Reading Jason, I’m pretty sure this is exactly what he 
wants – a breakup the minute he discovers he’d been committed. Ah, to be young, hott and fictional.
When Mikey (Michael B. Jordan) finds himself suddenly single thanks to his wife’s attorney working pro bono ifyouknowwhatImeanandIthinkyoudo, Jason decides he and his besties should all be like Mike, they want to be like Mike, and stay single for as long as condoms remain an option. Of course you know what happens, right? Jason falls for Ellie (Imogen Poots), Daniel (Miles Teller – nice to see Miles not being a total douche in a sex comedy for once) falls for Chelsea (Mackenzie Davis) and Mikey returns to his ex- (Jessica Lucas). And, of course, none of the three wants to admit to the others he’s stopped trying to screw around. Oh, you kids. Oh, you screenplays.
There’s not any good reason to like That Awkward Moment; it plays a lot like an R-rated episode of New Girl (nothing wrong with that, per se, other than it’s television). Three too-immature-for-their-own-good guys, one black, varied levels of goofy, all trying to hide relationship desperation. Very sitcom. I’m nudging it into the guilty pleasure category because I liked a scene or two, especially the one where Jason poses as money to steal a key to Gramercy Park. It’s romantic theft – stealing hearts, stealing memories, stealing my time. Meh. Mild passing grade.
♪This awkward moment
When my friend hits on you
Was like any other
In 100 films plus two
And then it happened
Zac took the magic pill
And had an erection
That made most of us feel ill
Cagey as swine
Clueless as a teenage frosh
Everything he can have
And he treats is as a wash
This awkward moment♫
Rated R, 94 Minutes
D: Tom Gormican
W: Tom Gormican
Genre: Bro-code
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Does Zac Efron still have a fan club?
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: Romance deniers, Bro-mance deniers
♪ Parody Inspired by “This Magic Moment”
