That Awkward Moment

That Awkward Moment (released as Are We Officially Dating? in Australia, Indonesia, and New Zealand) is a 2014 American romantic 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.

That Awkward Moment
Theatrical release poster
Directed byTom Gormican
Produced by
Written byTom Gormican
Starring
Music byDavid Torn
CinematographyBrandon Trost
Edited by
  • Shawn Paper
  • Greg Tillman
Production
company
Distributed byFocus Features
Release date
  • January 27, 2014 (2014-01-27) (Los Angeles)
  • January 31, 2014 (2014-01-31) (United States)
Running time
94 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$8 million[2]
Box office$40.5 million[2]

Plot

Jason is sitting on a bench in New York City waiting for someone to arrive. A voiceover explains that he has been waiting for a long time, but to explain why, he needs to go back to the beginning. Jason begins by telling the audience that every relationship reaches the "So..." moment, where someone in the relationship will want to take the relationship to a more serious place. At that point, Jason knows the relationship is over, as he is not ready to start dating.

Jason is currently working with his best friend Daniel at a publishing house designing book covers. Their friend Mikey, a young doctor who has been married to Vera since the end of college, comes to them after Vera requests a divorce. The three decide to go out to a bar and celebrate being single. The group meets up with Daniel's female wingman, Chelsea, as they try to get Mikey's mind off of his wife. Mikey meets a girl with glasses, while Jason meets Ellie, and hits it off with her after teasing another man that was trying to buy her a drink. Mikey gets "Glasses" number, but puts off calling her, resolving to work it out with Vera. Jason sleeps with Ellie, but leaves her apartment in a hurry after jumping to the mistaken conclusion that she is a prostitute.

The next day, Jason and Daniel make a book cover pitch to a new author, who happens to be Ellie. Jason is able to explain himself and the two begin seeing each other on a regular basis. Meanwhile, Daniel begins to fall for Chelsea, and the two begin seeing one another. Additionally, Mikey meets with Vera, and when she claims that the reason their marriage fell apart is because he is not spontaneous enough, Mikey kisses her, and the two sleep together in the hospital, reigniting their romance. All three friends attempt to keep their relationships a secret, due to their earlier agreement that they would stay single. The relationships all come to a head during Thanksgiving, a time that the three friends usually spend together, but varying circumstances keep them apart. Jason agrees to attend a funeral for Ellie's recently passed father, Mikey plans a Thanksgiving dinner with Vera, and Daniel attends the traditional Thanksgiving feast with Chelsea, free to openly tell the guests about their relationship.

Jason ultimately decides not to attend the funeral, not ready to fully commit to Ellie, and their relationship falls apart. Mikey has a serious conversation with Vera during their dinner, causing her to admit that she no longer loves him. Jason and Mikey head to the dinner where they discover Daniel's relationship with Chelsea, and when he denies that they are dating, his relationship falls apart as well. Although the three fight about having kept their relationships secret, they repair their friendship and try to recover their relationships.

Mikey calls "Glasses", setting up a date, and Daniel reunites with Chelsea after being hit by a taxi and ending up in the hospital. However, Jason has still not reconciled with Ellie, despite still being in love with her. Two months later, Mikey and Daniel help Jason by encouraging him to tell her of his love at her weekly book readings, which are usually sparsely attended. However, upon their arrival, the reading is full and Jason is unable to figure out a way to talk with her. He decides to make a scene by improvising a book reading, referencing their first meeting and requesting that they start over by meeting in Gramercy Park.

Returning to the beginning, Jason is waiting for Ellie in Gramercy Park. Four hours later, Ellie joins him on the bench, and Jason begins with "So..."

Outtakes

While the closing credits roll, various bloopers are shown. Included, though not a blooper, is a trick scene where Mikey claims to see Omar from the TV series The Wire sitting on their couch; the others in the scene, who were all facing Mikey, turn to find Michael K. Williams is quietly sitting on a nearby couch in the shot, playing a video game. Williams stays nonchalant as the others swarm him in surprise and laughter.

Cast

Production

That Awkward Moment was developed by What If It Barks Films and was originally titled Are We Officially Dating?, the title it was released under in New Zealand, Indonesia, and Australia.[3] The script was featured as one of the top comedy screenplays in the 2010 Hollywood Black List of best un-produced screenplays. In September 2013, the film's title changed to That Awkward Moment.[4]

Zac Efron was the first cast member to be announced in August 2012, alongside an announcement that production would begin in New York City in November 2012.[5] Miles Teller was reported to have joined the cast in October 2012,[6] with Imogen Poots and Michael B. Jordan following in November 2012.[7][8]

Release

In June 2013, the U.S. distribution rights for That Awkward Moment were acquired by FilmDistrict with a wide release set for January 31, 2014.[9] Because of a transition of FilmDistrict properties to Focus Features, That Awkward Moment was later absorbed by the reconstituted Focus Features for its January 2014 release.[10]

The first red band trailer was released on October 14, 2013.[11]

Critical response

That Awkward Moment received mostly negative reviews from critics.[12][13] Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval score of a 22% and an average rating of 4.11 out of 10 based on 139 reviews. The consensus is: "Formulaic and unfunny, That Awkward Moment wastes a charming cast on a contrived comedy that falls short of the date movies it seems to be trying to subvert."[14] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 based on reviews from critics, the film has a score of 36 based on 33 reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[15]

Accolades
Year Award Category Nominee(s) Result
2014[16] MTV Movie Awards Best Shirtless Performance Zac Efron Won

References
  1. "That Awkward Moment". British Board of Film Classification. December 6, 2013. Retrieved January 5, 2014.
  2. That Awkward Moment, Box Office Mojo
  3. "Are We Officially Dating? review: Playing the field with Zac Efron the lad" by Paul Byrnes, The Sydney Morning Herald, February 6, 2014
  4. Ford, Rebecca (September 17, 2013). "Zac Efron Comedy Are We Officially Dating? Now Titled That Awkward Moment". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 5, 2014.
  5. Sneider, Jeff (August 31, 2012). "Efron to star in Are We Officially Dating?". Variety. PMC. Retrieved January 5, 2014.
  6. West, Kelly (October 1, 2012). "Footloose's Miles Teller Cast In Are We Officially Dating?". Cinema Blend. Retrieved January 5, 2014.
  7. Trumbore, Dave (November 5, 2012). "AFM: Imogen Poots Joins Are We Officially Dating?". Deadline Hollywood. PMC. Retrieved January 5, 2014.
  8. Rosenfield, Kat (November 12, 2012). "Are We Officially Dating? Courts Michael B. Jordan". MTV News. MTV. Retrieved January 5, 2014.
  9. Sneider, Jeff (June 17, 2013). "FilmDistrict Acquires Zac Efron Comedy Are We Officially Dating?". TheWrap. The Wrap News Inc. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  10. Cunningham, Todd (October 2, 2013). "Focus Features Brings in Peter Schlessel to Replace James Schamus as CEO". TheWrap. The Wrap News Inc. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  11. "That Awkward Moment Red Band Trailer". Yahoo! Movies. October 14, 2013. Retrieved January 5, 2014.
  12. Cunningham, Todd. "'That Awkward Moment' Is Box-Office Heat Check for Zac Efron, Miles Teller, Michael B. Johnson". Retrieved November 2, 2016.
  13. Egan Morrissey, Tracie. "Critics Universally, Viciously, Hilariously Pan 'That Awkward Moment'". Retrieved November 2, 2016.
  14. "That Awkward Moment (2013)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  15. "That Awkward Moment". Metacritic. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  16. "MTV Movie Awards: Winners List". Variety. April 13, 2014. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
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