Ten Best: Awkward Moments in Film

Unfinished Business, coming to UK cinemas 6th March, staring Vince Vaughn, Tom Wilkinson, Dave Franco, and Sienna Miller, follows the story of a businessman (Vaughn) and his two employees (Franco and Wilkinson) who travel to Berlin, Germany to close the biggest business deal of their lives. However, things don’t go to plan when they bump into their competitor (Miller) who used to be Vaughn’s boss. What follows is a series of embarrassing and awkward twists that’ll keep you entertained throughout, including a brief stop in at a bondage festival and being caught in the middle of a violent city protest.

To celebrate the release of Unfinished Business we’ve compiled a list of the top 10 awkward moments in film. Check them out below:

There’s Something About Mary – Zipper Scene

Possibly the most awkward and graphic scene in cinema history, Ben Stiller gave a new meaning to teenage awkwardness on the day of his prom. Ted (Ben Stiller) gets his privates caught in his zipper after being mistakenly caught staring out of the window at Mary (Cameron Diaz) getting changed, when he was actually staring at a pair of doves below the window. Something About Mary is full of cringeworthy scenes that usually revolve around Stiller but this one is certainly a nightmare to remember.

American Pie – Pie Scene

“Like warm apple pie.” Jim (Jason Biggs), along with his friends, just wants to get laid. Wants to lose his virginity before heading off to college. In perhaps the most memorable scene from the American Pie films, Jim wants to find out what getting to third base is like, and so decides to try it on with a freshly baked, homemade apple pie. With his ass on show, and a pie held firmly over his crotch, Jim is literally caught with his trousers down by his father (Eugene Levy), this is a formative moment for both Jim and anyone that grew up in the 90s.

Bridget Jones Diary: Edge of Reason – Confrontation Scene

Bridget Jones (Renee Zellweger), not a woman usually associated with grace and elegance, shines in a role defined by its awkward moments. This particular scene features Jones on the war path to her boyfriend Mark Darcy’s (Colin Firth) house under the impression he is cheating on her with his work colleague. Bursting into his house with pieces of garden foliage stuck to her, Bridget then goes on to confront Mark in his living room but then realises the room is full with Mark Darcy’s lawyer colleagues in a meeting behind her.

Bridesmaids – Jewellery Store Scene

Bridesmaids really broke the mould with its comedic portrayal of thirtysomething females coping with the stresses of adolescence, money, and relationships. This scene particularly stood out for its use of language, vulgar language that is. Things get heated between Annie (Kristen Wiig) and a very young customer and a battle of words ensues, however, Annie brings the argument to an end when she calls the customer the C word and is then fired from her job.

Knocked Up – Baseball Club Scene

There’s nothing worse than a cheating partner, right? Well, so we thought until Debbie (sister of Knocked Up Alison) suspects her husband Pete of cheating on her, only to find him hanging out at a friends’ place playing fantasy baseball. The discovery itself is a little awkward, but the following conversation between Pete (Paul Rudd) and Debbie (Leslie Mann) is cringe worthy, with Pete revealing that he makes excuses to get away from the family for the night, to have time to himself and hang out with friends or catch a movie. “I like Spider-Man” cries Debbie to her completely oblivious husband.

Anchorman – Go f**k yourself San Diego Scene

Probably one of the greatest scenes in this awkward comedy, Ron Burgundy’s on-camera sign-off to the citizens of San Diego leaves everyone stunned and angry. Ron Burgundy has this little problem of reading everything and anything on the teleprompter without actually paying attention to what it says, so when co-anchor Veronica Corningstone re-writes the script, she doesn’t quite believe that it will actually work. The following few moments, while Ron continues with his work and calmly leaves the studio are incredibly awkward to watch.

The Inbetweeners Movie – The Empty Nightclub Scene

The Inbetweeners is all about embarrassing and awkward moments throughout the teenage years, following Will, Simon, Jay, and Neil through their final years of secondary school. The first movie continues this trend, taking place just after the completion of their A-Levels, when the boys take a holiday to Malia to take their minds off their woes. The following 90 minutes is filled with awkward moment after awkward moment, but by far the reigning champion of all these moments is the scene where the four boys introduce themselves to their female counterparts. In a totally empty nightclub, for over a minute, we watch as Neil, Will, and Simon dance their way across the dancefloor in an attempt to impress the women. It’s awkward for the characters, and truly awkward to watch.

Made – Everything’s Free Scene

Vince Vaughn makes things awkward again in this scene from Made, Jon Favreau’s directorial debut about two men that take on a bit of work for the mafia. In this scene, the pair are treated to First Class travel as they catch a plane to New York for a money laundering deal. Ricky (Vince Vaughn) starts to repeatedly call over a hostess to ask questions and generally bug. Things get awkward when he takes things a step too far and asks the hostess to go back to Business Class and “round up a couple honnies” for a good time. Perhaps it’s just my British upbringing, but this whole scene just gets more and more painful to watch.

I Love You Man – I Gotta Get Some F**king Friends Scene

Paul Rudd stars in another comedy, this time about a man, Peter, about to get married to the love of his life Zooey (Rashida Jones), when he overhears his fiancé and her friends talking about him. The scene plays out similarly to any scene in any movie where one person overhears something they shouldn’t. Peter is making some drinks for the guests when they start to talk about how weird it is that he has no friends, with Zooey revealing that she thinks his best friend is probably his mother. The ladies soon realise that Peter is in the kitchen and call him in, where he awkwardly serves the drinks, mumbles a few lines, and walks back out to the kitchen. “I gotta get some f**king friends” thankfully breaks the tension of the scene.

Superbad – The Punch scene

High school is awkward. Being a teenager is awkward. Dealing with hormones, approaching someone you like, actually talking to them, these things are all awkward. Superbad is another film that is just awkward moment after awkward moment, but everybody cringes a little (perhaps at a memory of a similar experience) during the scene where Evan (Michael Cera) approaches Becca, the girl of his dreams, to invite her to a party and offer to buy her alcohol. The conversation itself is awkward, with Evan calling her “Ma’am” and “sister” before reaching in for a friendly bump to her arm. The bump goes wrong when Evan is knocked by a passer-by, and he punches her in the breast, the tension builds as Evan tries his best to apologise while the girl walks away with her friend.
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For more awkward moments, Unfinished Business is hitting UK cinemas on the March 6th.