That Awkward Moment

MOVIE #1,691 • 🍿🍿🍿 • 06.03.24 From my notes: God this opening scene with the three bros…. This might be the worst movie I've ever seen. Why do I do this to myself? Do I need to watch this whole thing? Why would I? The scene after that — where Miles Teller says to Zac Efron that they should use a coupon to get Michael B. Jordan a hooker — is even worse. The scene after that — where Efron and Teller do the worst marketing pitch you've ever seen at their place of work — is worse still. Guess what happens after that? I think you get the point. The point is, this is how people talk, real people, in real life…

(That monologue is actually repeated later in the movie in a big romantic moment: just doubling down on total garbage!)

I also wrote down this quote: “Your dick looks like Spike Lee at a Knicks game” which is not funny, but timely (Knicks in 6!). I didn't even mention the scene where Efron and Teller have a phone conversation with each of them peeing into the toilet looking like this because they did Viagra and their boners won't go down…



OK, that's kinda funny NGL.

Anyway, it turns out Efron and Imogen Poots get past him mistaking her for a sex worker pretty quickly. They do more normal talking…


(I really like how Efron cocks his head there like he’s a puppy dog lol.)

This is far more raunchy than I would have ever guessed from its harmless-seeming poster and synopsis.

“My ex hated parks, he thought they were too public or something” —Imogen Poots in That Awkward Moment (2014)

The worst part of these movies is that they always feel like they have to circle back towards some emotional center that isn't only unearned, it's wholly unavailable, an impossible maneuver. Why can't they just lean into the stupid and/or hack vibe which has compromised the previous 98% of the film? Shockingly, this made money! Quadrupling its budget in a late January release dump. Proving once again that people are smart and like good things.

Anyway, if you’re wondering why I did this to myself: this is technically another Director Focus FILL-IN. I will be going through and picking out random directors that I’ve reviewed 1-2x and completing their filmographies. And this man, Tom Gormican, has a very brief and very WEIRD filmography: just two movies, this one and the meta Nicolas Cage comedy, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, which I saw in the theater and actually liked quite a bit. I have no idea how he got from Point A to Point B — among his scant, other credits? He’s one of three listed screenwriters on the Eddie Murphy/Beverly Hills Cop reboot due out later this year (?!) — but I’m not going to put too much thought into it. See you in another eight years or so for the next Gormican joint.

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CHRONOLOGICALLY
⫷ MOVIE #1,690 - (YOU ARE HERE) - MOVIE #1,692 ⫸

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That Awkward Moment (released as Are We Officially Dating? in Australia, Indonesia, and New Zealand) is a 2014 American bromantic comedy drama film written and directed by Tom Gormican in his directorial debut. The film stars Zac Efron, Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Imogen Poots, Mackenzie Davis, and Jessica Lucas. The film had its Los Angeles premiere on January 27, 2014, and it was widely released on January 31 in the United States. It was released on January 27, 2014.