That Awkward Moment, the chick-flick with a dude-bro twist, hits theaters today. And if essentially every single film critic is to be believed, you’ll want to run, not walk, away from the screen. They hated the shit out of this movie, which they found misogynist, boring, clichéd, potentially damaging to the careers of Michael B. Jordan, Zach Efron, and Miles Teller, and too heavy on the dick jokes. Here, we collected the best of the worst reviews.
The title refers to that moment when you realize you accidentally purchased a ticket to it. – Twin Cities
Gormican’s screenplay appeared on a list of Hollywood’s best unmade scripts, which was undoubtedly the best place for it. – Telegraph
Even more insipid, formulaic and contrived than anything Katherine Heigl has ever done. – The New York Post
This movie needed an awkward moment of its own — one where the filmmaker was taken aside by one or more older, preferably female studio executives, who’d read him some of his script out loud. – NJ.com
Most of the awkward moments must have happened in the editing bay. –Film.com
This is one awkward moment that runs for 94 minutes. – Sky Movies
Leans too heavily on dick jokes. – The Hollywood Reporter
Ultimately…so drowned out by bad dick and self-tanner jokes, they feel pointless to look back on. – Cinema Blend
[A] sight gag stolen from “Boogie Nights” and involving a sex toy, is as limp as a dangling prosthesis. – The New York Times
I’d like [writer-director] Gormican to explain the scene in which several characters end up in the same bathroom during a party. One of them takes off his pants. But why, when they all leave the room and walk through a crowd of partygoers, doesn’t he bother to put them on again first? The movie has several other scenes that make just as little sense. They’re not so much awkward moments as forced ones. – National Post
Not even “Sex and the City” was this obsessed with the male member. – Metro
All three actors are better than this. – JoBlo
The title refers to nothing particular in the story but aptly describes the conversations the actors will have with their agents this weekend. – Star Tribune
The kind of movie that can push an actor back from the cusp of stardom. – Tampa Bay Times
In a textbook on romantic comedies, a still from this movie could be included with the caption, “Figure 1: Wrong.” – Newsday
One could argue that Jordan was treated with more dignity by the BART security guards in Fruitvale Station than he is by Gormican’s script. – Paste
If comedy is in the details, that is where “That Awkward Moment” falls short, with its plethora of plot holes and lapses in logic. – RogerEbert.com
There’s a lot here that doesn’t make much sense. – Technology Tell
Forgettable, a so-so time-filler you’d discover on late-night cable and later have a dickens of a time remembering the title, even the next day. – San Jose Mercury News
All the film’s moments are less awkward than they are utterly forgettable. – Cinephiled
Ultimately meaningless and forgettable. – Contact Music
Teens and who possess even less life experience and emotional maturity than these characters may find profundity in some of this. All others need not apply. – Variety
What passes for frank and timely social observation in “That Awkward Moment” has less to do with edgy honesty (e.g. Adam on “Girls”) than a shallow, derivative retread (er, “Sexism in the City”?). Trying to fuse the raunch and ribaldry of Judd Apatow with the aspirational feel-goodism of the movies Matthew McConaughey no longer makes, first-time writer-director Tom Gormican succeeds only in delivering a long-form sit-com of verbal and behavioral cliches. – Washington Post
“That Awkward Moment” has a script like a basket of clichés, hauling out the hoariest insights about romance and relationships alongside gags so shopworn (I thought you said it was a costume party!) you can’t believe they still exist outside of family-hour sitcoms. – The Wrap
Unfolds like a college thesis with a big budget. – Boston.com
[A] sea of misogyny and missed opportunities. – Rolling Stone
This is essentially a testosterone-pumped, fantasy tutorial on how man-boys can graciously achieve monogamy, yet still remain pickup-line-dependent pricks with engorged egos…It’s the awkward moment when you know this movie would auto-fellate if it could. – Slant
What “Awkward” is actually about, albeit unintentionally, is how passing off misogyny for comedy has gotten so terribly passé, as insulting to the guys as to the young women. – L.A. Times
Like its characters, That Awkward Moment has commitment issues: It lacks the courage of its bad taste. – The Globe and Mail
He’s a fun guy but are audiences ready to commit to [Efron] as a dramatic lead? Silence? That’s what I thought. – The London Evening Standard
Is this how girls feel when they watch shitty rom-coms? How do they do it? Why do they do it? I’ve now seen one dude version of a rom-com, and I already understand the appeal of Communism. Enough! Military haircuts and grey jumpsuits for everyone! – Uproxx
This is fun for no one. – FlickFilosopher
Writer-director Tom Gormican…drags the most ridiculous and clichéd elements of the worst of female-centred romcoms into a male arena and calls it entertainment. – The Star
Like its main character, That Awkward Moment can’t commit to anything, and thinks it’s much smarter than it is. – The Dissolve
Three times the amount of slush than you get in the usual Hollywood rom-com. – Daily Star
There’s nothing new about the movie’s contrived misunderstandings and cringe-worthy comic set pieces. – Las Vegas Weekly
Growing up is hard to do, and harder to watch, in this tale of New York men on the make. – Orange County Register
Never mind the bathroom jokes: this one’s a stinker through and through. – Time Out London
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