What I most came away from this movie with was that this film was a guy’s film trying to pass itself off as a girl’s film. Not saying movies are necessarily gender oriented, but you can tell at times what demographic a movie is trying to aim towards. Watch the trailer and see what you think…
So from what I see, it could be a cute movie about guys learning about love and relationships. And it kind of is, but after watching it I would say it is not quite as advertised. The film focuses on three friends: Jason, Daniel, and Mikey. Played by Zac Efron, Miles Teller, and Michael B. Jordon respectively, these are guys aiming for a score. Driven by the divorce proceedings brought by Mikey’s wife Vera (played by Jessica Lucas), the three make a pact at the beginning of the film to remain single. All three of them fail to keep to this, as Mikey tries to fix things with his wife, Jason falls for the girl he has a one night stand with played by Imogen Poots, and Daniel falls for his friend Chelsea, played by Mackenzie Davis. However, none of the guys are being honest with their friends about what is going on in each of their lives. Obviously this eventually hits the fan and the guys have to make choices.
The film name attempts to bring up “that awkward moment” when in a relationship the girl usually asks where it is going and what does it mean and what do the participants in the relationship mean to each other. In reality, I think honest communication is important in any relationship so it really shouldn’t be awkward. But that’s just me, I suppose. Also according to the film, it is always the woman who brings this up, which I find pretty annoying.
I didn’t enjoy the film much. As a woman, I felt like women were vastly mistreated in this movie. To the main characters, women are just objects for sexual conquest to be thrown away and replaced as needed. Their “roster” of rotating women keeps sex available at all times without any regard to the women and how they would feel if they knew how they were being treated. One girl does understand it is a mutual use for sex, but it sounded to me like the majority of women didn’t know. I’m all for people engaging in sex without feelings, as long as everyone involved is on the same page.
There were two parts of the film I did enjoy. Namely, Mikey (Jordan) is trying to convince his friends that their lifestyle choices aren’t what life and relationships are about. He really loves his wife and wants to fix their marriage, but his friends just keep telling him he needs to get laid. So I appreciated his character showing the value of relationships and being honest and open with your partner in trying to solve relationship problems. The other moment I enjoyed was when Jason (Efron) is Facebook stalking the girl he hooked up with, and he constantly looks at her pictures and analyzes who else is in the pictures. Who hasn’t been there? Who hasn’t sat online looking at someone’s profile and trying to suss out information? It’s incredibly realistic.
Overall, it was amusing though sometimes rather childish, and as a woman I didn’t appreciate how we as a gender were represented in the film. Watch and let me know what you think. That Awkward Moment premieres Saturday, November 22nd at 8:15pm.
