No Hard Feelings

NO HARD FEELINGS - a Review by Guy S. Malone, Researcher (with input from Serfing Dude, Captain HE, and FilmZ).

A lot of fans who have seen Jennifer Lawrence's talk show riffs and red-carpet improvs will wonder why she hasn't done a comedy film before this. Her off-the-wall goofiness, quick wit, charm, and beauty seem to make her a natural for the genre.  Many of those same fans will see No Hard Feelings and wonder why an Academy Award-winning actor would do an R-rated teen comedy.  A girl can't win.  It's a mark of her star power that people are lining up at theaters asking for tickets to "the Jennifer Lawrence movie" as if the film takes a backseat to her presence in it.  And the J-Law phenomenon is what has given No Hard Feelings a successful launch, but word-of-mouth has given it legs. 

J-Law plays Maddie Barker, a 32-year-old Uber driver in her native Montauk. Maddie's life is a mess; she can't commit to anything, including financial management which has resulted in her car being repossessed. Forced to rollerblade to her second job as a bartender and in danger of losing the house she grew up in, she commiserates with her married friends, Sara (Natalie Morales), a compassionate sounding board, and Jim (Scott MacArthur) a model of comic ineptitude. After only cursory consideration, Maddie replies to an ad placed by wealthy helicopter parents (Matthew Broderick, Laura Benanti) that promises a Buick Regal to a woman in her early-20s who is willing to "date" their son, Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman), a timid 19-year-old recluse, before he heads off to Princeton. Despite her age, Maddie is hired and conspires with Percy's parents to set up a "happenstance" meeting at the animal shelter where he volunteers. 

The meet-cute turns ugly fast--Percy thinks he is being kidnapped and maces Maddie.  Still, as awkward and fearful as he is, he does see the upside of a possible affair with a beautiful older woman, and despite numerous pitfalls ranging from the cringy to the hilarious, he finally promises to “put out." As events unfold, the humor becomes more subdued and the story evolves into a sweet coming-of-age story for Percy and, surprisingly, for Maddie, whose own father issues have left her emotionally stunted and fearful of commitment. To this end, the film works better than it should. Growth can come at any age and inspiration from the strangest of circumstances. 

The film's trailer promises a raunchy sex comedy, and it has its moments, like the scene where a skinny-dipping seduction turns into a brawl in which a nude J-Law takes on three drunken kids who have stolen their clothing. Some may say the scene is beneath an Academy Award winner. A fellow filmgoer, Captain HE, saw this as "an opportunity missed. The poignancy of the relationship was wasted on sophomoric humor.  There were layers of real human angst and growth ... sacrificed for a gratuitous naked beach fight." In his opinion piece for Vulture, Nate Jones asks if similar gripes were lodged after Viggo Mortensen's full frontal fight in Eastern Promises? No. In fact, J-Law's assault could be seen as a major leveler for women in film. She definitely tweaks the idea, and the ideal, of the traditional Hollywood bombshell.  As Serfing Dude, another friend put it: "J-Law was great as always! Her comedic timing and sense of humor are only surpassed by her beauty!"

As a perk, we have the unexpected onscreen chemistry between Lawrence and Feldman, a star in the making. Reportedly, the film's director Gene Stupnitsky had Lawrence in mind for the script he collaborated on with John Phillips, and Lawrence loved it so much that she committed her production company to it.  No Hard Feelings does capture the vast culture gap between teens and even someone in their early-30s: the younger set's reliance on technology and the resulting social ineptitude that cuts them off from real intimacy.  

In reflection, our major criticism is that No Hard Feelings tries to do too much, touching on many points while truly addressing a few. This was true of both set pieces and characters. We would have been happy--maybe happier--had the story focused solely on the Maddie Barker character. And we were flummoxed by the presence of the excellent and charismatic actor, Zahn McClarnon, as the surfing lawyer. In NHF, he seems to exist as a character for one throwaway line that capitalizes on his Native American heritage, and then he is jammed into another scene to make his presence worth his time. As the genre goes, few expect great art, but Stupnitsky's scattershot ambition should have been reined in to flesh out a few good ideas and set pieces into a tighter plot.  Luckily, Jennifer Lawrence and the rest of the excellent cast save his bacon.

7.0 out of 10

No Hard Feelings is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for sexual content, language, some graphic nudity, and brief drug use. Run time: 103 minutes.