That Awkward Moment 2014

Wesley Morris, Grantland: A moderately smart movie would have pushed back against the formula. That Awkward Moment simply mistakes being obnoxious for being clever. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: A rom-com for dudes that seeks to outdo the ladies by being even more insipid, formulaic and contrived than anything Katherine Heigl has ever done. Read more

Scott Foundas, Variety: Teens and twentysomethings who possess even less life experience and emotional maturity than these characters may find profundity in some of this. All others need not apply. Read more

Kevin McFarland, AV Club: Tom Gormican's debut yearns to stand out as a benchmark for what dating is like at this moment in time, all the while working with the same basic toolkit as every other film in the genre. Read more

Randy Cordova, Arizona Republic: First-time writer-director Tom Gormican keeps the dialogue moving at a rapid pace, which doesn't obscure the fact that most of what is said is dopey and witless. Read more

Jessica Herndon, Associated Press: Though ''Awkward Moment'' is predictable, it's not a complete disappointment. It's satisfying for a lover of formulaic rom-coms. Read more

Peter Keough, Boston Globe: "That Awkward Moment" does invert one of Hollywood's more tiresome cliches - the one where the distraught woman consoles herself by eating a pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream. In this movie, it's the guy who does that. Read more

Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader: The refreshing thing about this otherwise formulaic romantic comedy is that writer-director Tom Gormican gives the verbal humor some rhythm, shooting many of the dialogue-driven scenes in long takes so they develop a pleasing ebb and flow. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: More grating than peppy, the Manhattan-set romantic comedy "That Awkward Moment" proceeds as a series of awkward moments in search of a premise and a protagonist a little less stupid. Read more

Adam Graham, Detroit News: "That Awkward Moment" wants to be part "American Pie" and part "Swingers." It doesn't get there, but thanks to its cast, watching it try has its moments. Read more

Cary Darling, Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com: That Awkward Moment is pleasant enough, and it has some inspired moments, but they don't add up to anything that pushes the boundaries of the genre. Read more

Adam Markovitz, Entertainment Weekly: The movie's ideas about relationships would've felt middle-of-the-road in the '80s, and its big epiphany moments (Guys can fall in love, too!) are shallow enough to make you long for the comparatively profound rom-com oeuvre of Kate Hudson. Read more

Kate Erbland, Film.com: An oddly fake and emotionally empty bromantic-comedy. Read more

Sheri Linden, Hollywood Reporter: In smaller, sharper doses, the frenetic testosterone shtick of these baby-faced blusterers might have worked better. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: What "Awkward" is actually about, albeit unintentionally, is how passing off misogyny for comedy has gotten so terribly passe, as insulting to the guys as to the young women. Read more

Amy Nicholson, L.A. Weekly: A dude-bro Sex and the City Read more

Randy Myers, San Jose Mercury News: Even though "Awkward" has its moments, it winds up lagging behind more daring endeavors on TV right now. The film industry had better keep up. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: A movie that checks absolutely every box and still utterly fails the test. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Maybe in development 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. Read more

Stephen Holden, New York Times: A vile, witless sex comedy ... Read more

Michael Sragow, Orange County Register: Part of its problem is infantilism. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: There are times when the blend of romance and raunchiness threatens to curdle. In the end, however, the "love conquers all" mentality wins out. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Take three horny guys, all twentysomethings, mix with a plot that was old last century, and serve to an audience so desperate toilet gags they might forgive a movie wired only with cliches. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: Though it ultimately leans too much on genre cliche, it reveals some of the tensions that today's young adults experience in their romantic lives - the impersonality of hook-up culture in collision with the human desire and need for intimacy. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: A bungled mass of relationship gab and frat-friendly gross-out gags, with the latter, and most of the laughs, front-loaded into the first few reels. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: Might be more aptly titled Those Awkward 94 Minutes. Read more

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: Drags the most ridiculous and cliched elements of the worst of female-centred romcoms into a male arena and calls it entertainment. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: Has a script like a basket of cliches, 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. Read more

Cath Clarke, Time Out: The actors seem to have been involved in a hideous industrial accident that's left them with the superpower of repelling all comic timing. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: It's a Valentine's Day date movie that guys won't mind seeing, and women will find amusing enough and easy on the eyes. Read more

Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture: Only a sociopath would behave this carelessly, and as such, That Awkward Moment makes for an interesting study in abnormal criminal behavior. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: The chief frustration of "That Awkward Moment" is that everyone in it is so much better than the material ... Read more