‘No Hard Feelings’ Movie Review: A Sometimes-Raunchy But Surprisingly Sweet Sex Comedy
Photo from Sony Pictures
From Jeremy Kibler
Jennifer Lawrence seems true to her likable, you-want-to-be-her-friend persona. Off-screen, she has proven her ace comic timing and an acerbic, unfiltered sense of humor. It’s kind of a surprise, then, that No Hard Feelings is her first R-rated comedy. The versatile Lawrence is as much of a natural in letting loose and being bawdy as she is in bringing emotional depth to a hard-hitting drama or a YA dystopian franchise. Reminiscent of the high-concept sex comedies from the ‘80s that then bled into the early aughts (i.e. The Girl Next Door), this is a welcome return to comedies that aren’t afraid to shake up good taste but are also big softies underneath.
Lawrence plays Maddie Barker, an employed but aimless 32-year-old Montauk townie still living in the childhood home her late mother left her. She works as a bartender and an Uber driver but has no car from failing to pay her property taxes and having it repossessed (by one of her many exes no less). In hopes of saving her house, Maddie answers a very weird Craigslist ad from well-to-do helicopter parents (played by a game Matthew Broderick and Laura Benanti). She’s upfront about not being a professional sex worker, but all she has to do is “date” their awkward, sheltered, risk-averse (and legal) 19-year-old son Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman) before he heads off to Princeton. In exchange, Maddie gets the title to their Buick Regal. Let the life experiences for Percy and growing up for Maddie ensue.
There is a class-conscious underpinning to Maddie’s living/financial situation that makes the film wiser than it needs to be, but that’s not really why we’re here. With a potentially creepy or wrongheaded premise, writer-director Gene Stupnitsky (of the much-more-ribald but equally sweet Good Boys) and co-writer John Phillips altogether handle it with more charm, smarts, and sensitivity than expected. Naturally, we know this “relationship” can’t last because Maddie isn’t a total monster and Percy isn’t completely clueless, either. Even if Maddie and Percy do or do not have sex, there is actually hope that they can forge a true friendship.
Jennifer Lawrence is brazenly funny, whether it’s getting into a nude brawl in the middle of skinny-dipping (distractingly obvious digital effects aside) or shaking it like a polaroid picture to get Percy hyped for his first time. Maddie may not be the meatiest character Lawrence has ever played (see her in the recent indie Causeway for that), but she still brings sincerity to the part and really goes for it when being sexually forward with Percy. If a broadly played gag doesn’t totally land, there are still several more big laughs reliant on physical comedy and a lot of chances for Lawrence to show her stuff with an unexpected line delivery.
In his first starring role, Broadway actor Andrew Barth Feldman makes Percy feel like a real, anxiety-ridden kid who’s been coddled by his parents his whole young life. He’s endearing and adorably gawky (his line “Isn’t this how ‘Jaws’ started?” before undressing on the beach is very cute), and Feldman even gets to showcase his musical abilities in a lovely rendition of Daryl Hall & John Oates’ “Maneater” on piano. This is Lawrence and Feldman’s show all the way, but the supporting cast is no slouch, either, including Natalie Morales and Scott MacArthur as Maddie’s pregnant-couple friends, the closest she has to family.
No Hard Feelings isn’t overdetermined to be outrageous and lowbrow all the time. Does that make it a little safe? Maybe, but in deft-enough hands, it makes the switch from silly, raunchy sex farce to a soft romantic comedy and settles for something surprisingly sweet and tender. It feels like a relic and a breath of fresh air all at once.
No Hard Feelings is now in theaters.
Rating: 3.5/5
