THAT AWKWARD MOMENT

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Zac Efron is back on the big screen in That Awkward Moment, a bromantic comedy that documents the dating lives of three friends. When Mikey (Michael B. Jordan) is left devastated by his unfaithful wife, he and his two buddies (Efron and Miles Teller) vow to stay single for as long as possible. However, their pledge of brotherhood comes into jeopardy when they each secretly fall in love.

Writer and director Tom Gormican’s movie debut, That Awkward Moment falls short of the standards set by other male-buddy orientated films such as The Hangover or American Pie series. The film’s trailer and accompanying synopsis of ‘how men deal with ‘that awkward moment”, meaning the moment when a girl asks where the relationship is going, has had it playfully dubbed by some as ‘a chick flick for guys’. However, That Awkward Moment isn’t really about, well, that awkward moment – or what Efron’s character Jason refers to as the ‘So’. Aside from a few momentary references to this conversation, Gormican seems to have forgotten the crux of the film and instead much of the 94-minute run time is dedicated to awkward jokes and awkward cast interaction – without an ‘awkward moment’ in sight.

The issues begin with the character set ups – it’s clear here that Mikey is supposed to be the sensible one, pining for his wife and unable to even think of being with another girl. Daniel (Teller) is the ‘funny’ one who hides any shot of a real relationship with real emotions under a barrage of uncomfortable jokes. Then there is Jason who is lazily introduced as a heartless playboy in the brief dialogue that accompanies the opening scenes, however, once the film gets going it is easy to forget that he is supposed to be a player with much of the film focusing on his loyal infatuation with Ellie (Imogen Poots). Jason’s relationship with Ellie goes against the ladies’ man facade; a facade which seems forgotten in its entirety until towards the end of the film when he has a ‘revelation’ that he needs to stop being such a womanizer – needless to say this was a very confusing and random revelation that only makes the audience realise just how misrepresented Jason’s character had been throughout.

Despite the lazy character development, the film’s biggest problem actually comes with the complete lack of chemistry between the male cast. It almost feels as though you’re watching the audition process rather than the final product as the cast deliver their lines as if they’re still reading from the script with no sense of natural character interaction. As a result, the comedic timing is completely off throughout most of the film, making a lot of the jokes fall flat – awkward? Absolutely. But perhaps not in the way that was intended.

It isn’t all entirely bad; one of That Awkward Moment’s saving graces comes from the refreshing lead female characters, Ellie and Chelsea (Mackenzie Davis). Shying away from the stereo-typically emotional and clingy girls that are found in male-orientated films, these girls are likable, relatable, and realistic depictions of contemporary twenty-something girls. Although sometimes a little too desperate to be quirky (at times Poots attempted to channel Zooey Deschanel circa 500 Days of Summer to the extent of parody), it was still a step forward in female representations for comedies of this kind, with Mackenzie Davis giving a particularly warm and genuine performance.

All in all, That Awkward Moment is just a little bit too confused. Gormican appears to have had a vague idea when writing the story but didn’t devote the time or energy into fleshing the characters out, particularly the protagonist Jason. If the male leads had better chemistry then the film would probably be salvageable and there are occasional moments of humour in the script that only get lost in translation through their delivery.

To conclude, nothing says ‘That Awkward Moment’ more than when a film’s cast is so lacking in chemistry that even the blooper reel fails to rouse laughter from the audience! That Awkward Moment has  potential that would have shone through if more time been spent in developing the story and casting actors that were better able to connect with one another.

★★☆☆☆

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PARKLAND

As the 50th anniversary of President Kennedy's assassination approaches we have been inundated with documentaries, news stories, films, books... Absolutely anything that you can think of that recounts the tragic day. Parkland is no different; based on the book of the same name it tells the story of the handful of ordinary individuals in Dallas, Texas on that fateful day who found themselves thrust into extraordinary circumstances. From the doctors and nurses who desperately tried to save JFK's life, to the alleged killer's brother, to the unwitting cameraman who unknowingly captured the most examined video in history - all of the previously unheard of contributors in perhaps one of the most significant days of recent history are considered for the first time and the result is interesting if slightly lacking.

I know very little about the JFK assassination and was eager to learn more through this film, although I do feel like I have been educated in a sense I still found the whole thing a little dull. The initial build up to the shooting was incredibly tense and the emotional scenes as the doctors desperately tried to save Kennedy's life as his heartbroken (but slightly vapid) wife looked on were heartbreaking. The sense of unity within America during that moment was poignant and made for heart-pounding viewing. However, once JFK was well and truly dead, once his widow had got back onto a plane to Washington, once the emotion started to run a little thin, the result was rather underwhelming.

I think the major downfall of the film is that there is no real story-arc. The fast-paced nature and flitting, incoherent camera shots are quite captivating to begin with as it places you right in the midst of the drama and panic and gives you a sense of the confusion and emotion of the day, but once the main drama subsides you are left with bland, underdeveloped characters and no real empathy or care for what happens next. The use of a handheld, shaky-lens camera also added to the film's detriment; it aided in creating feelings of panic and gave elements of realism but I feel that it should have been toned down as the story went on - 93 minutes of staring at a wobbly cinema screen is enough to make your head hurt and once you start feeling queasy you are too busy waiting for the film to end so that you can get out rather than focusing on the actual plot in the film.

Despite it's downfalls, Parkland is definitely one of the most creative examples of JFK media. Representing key figures who were previously overlooked is a unique and interesting touch - let's be honest, have you ever considered what it must have been like for Lee Oswald's brother? Whose life was turned upside down after he found out via the TV news at work that his brother had killed one of the most important people in the World? Or what about Abraham Zapruder (played by the wonderful Paul Giamatti)? Who had unwittingly recorded the assassination of the president? I certainly hadn't.

However, as fascinating as these insights were the lack of story arc did make it difficult for the characters to develop and I found my imagination providing me with the most detailed examples of how it must have been for them rather than the film itself. Parkland was saturated with minor characters which made things seem a bit confused and overcrowded; just as you were starting to connect with one of them the scene would cut to another so you didn't really get a chance to care, and aside from a short written summary at the end of the film you didn't really find out much about what happened to them after the day. So, although looking at these minor roles of the JFK assassination was a good idea in theory, it was poorly executed and it could have actually been so much better in practice.

Parkland was an interesting and creative insight into a day I previously didn't know too much about; it was a creative idea but the fast-paced nature of the film and the handheld camera-work was a little too much and distracted from the overall story.

★★✯☆☆

Parkland is in cinemas nationwide from the 22nd of November

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