Upon watching the trailer for “That Awkward Moment” for the first time, I knew I had to watch the film as soon as it hit theaters. First of all, it stars Zac Efron, who is showing a lot more layers – or in this case, lack thereof – than his early High School Musical days. Second, I hoped to find answers as to why today’s generation of young people overuse the expression “that awkward moment when…,” and third, I expected lots of laughs.
However, although the promise of Efron’s nudity is intact in the film, the laughs were not as abundant as I had anticipated.
Don’t get me wrong, the film is comedic, but I found myself immersing in the storyline and connecting it to real life situations, which is where I ultimately found my answers.
The film revolves around three friends, portrayed by Efron, Miles Teller, and Michael B Jordan, and how love can be found in today’s selfish culture where hookups and casual sex are not out of the ordinary. It deals with common situations that the average young adult may face: unfaithful long-time partners, friends with benefits type of relationships, emotionally vacant intimacy, feeling the need to get out of a relationship after the other person expects something more serious, and all the awkward moments in between. Prominently, these “awkward” moments were displayed when the characters started to realize that they were unexpectedly falling in love with their respective partners, but their pride got in the way and they were too selfish to admit it, which is a situation that might be easily relatable for some.
Past the point of no return, the story does fall into romantic comedy clichés, making the film a bit flawed. We get the unrealistic public proclamation of love and the stereotypical “boy gets girl” ending.
Ultimately, the film does deliver funny lines to make you laugh, and it is quite entertaining. I mainly enjoyed Efron’s mature acting and seeing him all grown up. The film is not the stereotypical sappy romantic comedy, making it the perfect movie to watch with friends. But beware of watching it with a significant other, you might find yourself living an awkward moment of your own.

5 out of 5 stars