Zawkward (Movie Review: That Awkward Moment)

There's a great romantic comedy somewhere inside "That Awkward Moment," you just really have to look for it. And that's a shame, because it might have been a really good one. As it stands right now, this movie is in search of something, and ends up with half of something. This movie feels more of a "product," something that the producers and studio heads tinkered with until it tested well with every demographic, so much of it feels unfocused. I wonder if that was the original tone of Tom Gormican's screenplay. Zac Efron has said in interviews that he fell in love with the script when he first read it, and I wonder if the resulting movie is a result of that screenplay. I could hear executives saying, "Hey! Let's add some raunchy scenes in here to appeal to male viewers, because if we stick with the romance, only the female viewers would go!" Call it the Apatow syndrome, a trend I really despise, and hope disappears soon. Zac Efron, Miles Teller and Michael B Jordan are great actors but something feels off somewhere because I never believed them, and any of the situations they were in when they are instructed to be bros. When it came to scenes where they are called to dig up "emotions," they all shine. So I really do blame the screenplay and direction on those parts where they feel forced. Because the latter third of the movie is poignant, and feel more "real." I wonder if this was really intended to be more of a rom-com than a raunchy comedy? It was originally titled "Are We Officially Dating," and that would have been a great premise, that of not knowing if you are already in a relationship because today's youth are more loose in dating practices. The film briefly touches that point, and for a split second, it makes you think. But maybe I am just too old for this kind of movie, and perhaps that's why I really can't relate to it anymore.