No Hard Feelings

Director: Gene Stupnitsky
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Andrew Barth Feldman, Laura Benanti, Matthew Broderick, Natalie Morales, Scott MacArthur, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Kyle Mooney, Hsan Minhaj, Zahn McClarnon
Running Time: 103 min.
Rating: R

★★★ (out of ★★★★)

It's kind of amazing it took this long for Jennifer Lawrence to star in a major mainstream comedy, despite every indication she's always had the timing to make a huge impression in one. You can chalk it up to a busy schedule, the right project not coming along, or declining enthusiasm for the genre, but it just never materialized. Now, with the 90's throwback sex comedy No Hard Feelings, her invaluable presence sets the bar high for co-writer/director Gene Stupnitsky (2019's Good Boys), who also has to deliver on a promising trailer that probably left too little to the imagination. 

Borrowing elements from R-rated romps of decades past and boasting a clever, risky premise, it didn't take long for many to worry if the movie would go "soft," sacrificing laughs to deliver a serious moral message. But that's only the partial truth, as it's smarter and more low-key than anticipated, successfully mixing a handful of situational gags with a heartfelt coming-of-age dramedy that subverts a lot of what the advertising implied.

Maddie Barker (Lawrence) is a 32-year-old Uber driver and bartender living in her late mother's home in Montauk, New York that she owes taxes on. Facing bankruptcy when her car is repossessed, she notices a Craigslist posting by the Beckers (Matthew Broderick and Laura Benanti), a wealthy couple offering a Buick in return for a prospective young woman to "date" their shy, inexperienced 19-year-old son Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman) before he goes off to college at Princeton. 

While slightly older than the Beckers expect, Maddie talks them into giving her the job and assumes she'll bed Percy in no time, ignorant to any possible complications. After a shaky introduction and a few dates where they actually start enjoying each other's company, it's apparent this can only end badly for the teen, who's a lot more capable than his helicopter parents think. In the process, Maddie makes some unpleasant discoveries about herself, realizing this deal could carry far worse consequences than she assumed.

That Percy isn't the butt of all the film's jokes is a pleasant surprise considering the type of comedy this seems set up to be. It's almost too easy to portray him as an awkward, bumbling loser so there's a fair amount of restraint taken in the script and Feldman's performance to humanize him. He's introverted and withdrawn, but far from the lost cause his parents make him out to be, possessing a sense of humor and intelligence that suggest he's still just figuring things out. 

Even with Percy's parents causing more harm than good by pushing him into something he should be experiencing on his own, there aren't many males likely to complain about being in this particular scenario, so Lawrence has to work extra hard and does. So believably out of her mind as the overbearing, aggressively flirtatious Maddie, it makes sense he'd be somewhat terrified, especially considering the age gap. The real reversal is that this manufactured relationship is more damaging for her than him, giving you the impression he'll eventually be hurt, but survive and move on. She's a different story. 

At times Lawrence and Feldman play off each other so well you temporarily forget about the whole end game. As she gets Percy to come out of his shell, a stuck Maddie is reminded of her bad choices and strained relationships with married friends Sara (Natalie Morales) and Jim (Scott MacArthur) and jilted tow driver ex Gary (Ebon Moss Bachrach). They all look at her with pity, wondering if she'll ever come to the epiphany that it's time to grow up and move on.

With the big reveal eventually playing out smoother than expected, those craving an effort in the vein of American Pie or There's Something About Mary may be slightly disappointed. One of the few instances where it encroaches into that territory is with Lawrence's full frontal nude beach fight, which would rank as the most shocking thing in the picture if not for whatever's happening with Matthew Broderick's hair.

The damaged character Lawrence plays here isn't all that different from roles she's tackled in more dramatic turns and that isn't necessarily a negative. Even if it's tonally off or a little messy in parts, you still care about the two leads thanks to the delightfully dysfunctional chemistry she shares with Feldman. They both fully understand the assignment, even if certain viewers will gripe that this isn't worse, dumber or more offensive than they were supposedly promised.