That Awkward Moment

I love Miles Teller. I love Michael B Jordan. I hate Zac Efron. Two out of three ain't bad though. And I actually liked the idea of this movie, a sort of reverse chick flick. Instead of girls looking for the perfect man and supporting each other the way we always see in these movies, this is about a group of buddies supporting each other as they chase their respective women and try to stay single at the same time.

But there lies the problem. Sure, it's a cute idea. But it doesn't take risks at all. It lets its basic drama tell the story, with maybe the occasional punch line or joke carrying it, but not nearly enough for me to think of this as a romantic comedy. It's almost just a buddy romance film that doesn't work on that level. Its jokes are tired, and the only saving comedic grace is Teller's ability to be himself. But that's about it. It's not funny. And the sad part is I like this cast. I wish it worked.

The story goes off into 3 separate subplots. One follows a generic romance story between Efron and a lady friend he meets at the beginning of the film. You can guess where it's all gonna go. Meanwhile, Jordan chases his ex wife, who he can't seem to get over, in a break-up movie-esque story. Finally, in the "true love in old friendship" story, Teller finds himself in a relationship with a long time friend of the group. Of course all three are unwilling to talk to each other about their relationships.  Of course they all have a falling out. You can guess where this all goes and what happens. Like, every little thing.

So all of this raises questions...who is this for? Is this movie for the guys night out? Zac Efron isn't exactly the star to market to bro's looking for a fun movie. Not to mention it's a romance film. So is it for the ladies? Then why have marketed guy humor? Is it really going to appeal to them there? And sure, Efron is petty spot on for the lady factor. But with so much guy humor surrounding the story, is it really for the girls to have a girls night out? I dunno. It tries, but this movie simply doesn't succeed on any level.

Rank - 1.5/5