Review: That Awkward Moment

City Paper grade: D

Much like its trio of main characters, That Awkward Moment just can't bring itself to grow up and make a commitment. Writer/director Tom Gormican's debut wants to be both a gross-out bromance and an aw-shucks romantic comedy, but whenever it tries to take a serious look at relationships it feels as clumsy as a frat boy trying to train himself to have a sensitive side by binge-watching chick flicks. Imogen Poots and Mackenzie Davis do their best to create characters out of their thankless roles as women with the power to tame incorrigible manchildren, but Gormican is sympathetic to their plights without actually being able to make them flesh and blood human beings. Zac Efron, Miles Teller and Michael B. Jordan share an easy camaraderie but this marks a significant step backwards for at least two of this trio. Jordan's lead performance gave the well-intentioned but sentimental Fruitvale Station whatever nuance it did manage, while Teller played a more revealing, sour incarnation of his fast-talking player in last year's The Spectacular Now, making it all the more disappointing that he's backsliding into straightforward Vince Vaughn patter. Efron is still trying to shed his Disney skin, but he'll need to add more to a repertoire that mainly consists of flashing his dreamy gaze at the camera like a puppy that's learned that a pout can yield table scraps. Turning on the high-beam charm may work on the women who are scripted to fall for it, but it's not enough to salvage such a lazy script from those who pay to sit through it.