AWKWARD ENDEAVORS

From the very beginning, Awkward Endeavors threw me for a bit of a loop. I went into this prepared for a comedy, but find myself on a bit of an uncomfortable edge throughout the entire runtime all thanks to a bizarrely-placed lingering on a Guns & Ammo magazine less than thirty seconds in. I'm not sure if this was intentional, but it left me feeling more nervous as opposed to giddy when the comedic awkwardness began to reveal itself.

Awkward Endeavors begins with Greg, a lonely pizza man eagerly awaiting his next piano lesson from Melinda, his happily married teacher. After an awkward encounter with Melinda's husband Jerome, Greg gets right into his lesson as Jerome creepishly enjoys yard-work just outside the window. As Greg's lesson progresses, he finally works up the courage to make his romantic move on Melinda which leads to yet another awkward encounter.

There's nothing wrong with the set-up, though familiar. It's the execution that left me feeling incredibly underwhelmed, and also confused. Again, I went into this expecting a comedy, but was instead greeted almost exclusively with awkwardness. Now, I gather that was at least part of the point being as the word 'awkward' is in the title, but I can't imagine the filmmakers weren't hoping to get some laughs in there as well.

As things began to fall apart, and the situation did not seem to go Greg's way, I couldn't help but think about the Guns & Ammo magazine he had sitting on his passenger seat introduced back at the start. I kept preparing myself for this to take a very bizarre turn when he finally exits the house, but the magazine (thankfully) never comes back into play. But leaves me to my next question on the matter: Why include it at all?

The big standout here for me involves a neighbor who seems to be an avid movie fan spewing off his trivia to the closest person he finds who may listen. I found Paul, the neighbor, to be the strongest performer of the group, really nailing the comedic timing of his interactions with Melinda's husband. Whenever Paul is on screen, I found these to be the most enjoyable moments of the film.

Ultimately, Awkward Endeavors was a bit of a miss for me, but a tighter edit could really boost the comedy to another level. The material is there. The performances are there, but as is, it's all just a little too awkward for me.

5/10

-DJ Ford