Jennifer Lawrence’s star power gets put to the test with the raunchy, R-rated comedy No Hard Feelings. She doesn’t need a test for her comedic chops; as she’s proven to be on point many times over the years. But when was the last time she starred in a movie that wasn’t either a huge studio blockbuster or aiming for an Academy Award? It doesn’t happen nearly enough, and the hilarious and charming No Hard Feelings suggests she should cut loose more often.
Here’s the thing about No Hard Feelings; while it’s directed and co-written by Gene Stupnitsky, who gave us Good Boys and the unforgettable experience of a foul-mouthed, horny Jacob Tremblay, it is surprisingly heartfelt. The jokes are often unabashedly lowbrow and easy, like when Lawrence’s trainwreck character Maddie asks sheltered 19-year-old Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman), if she can touch his wiener…while he’s holding a wiener-dog at a local rescue. Whomp whomp.
But for every gag that pushes the boundaries of good taste, No Hard Feelings offers a bit of depth that makes Lawrence’s presence crucial. This isn’t a constant, laugh out loud kind of comedy. Lawrence is asked to reveal more about Maddie, a resident of a rich Montauk suburb for all of her life. When we meet her, the car she owns so she can be an Uber driver is being towed by an ex-boyfriend (The Bear‘s Ebon Moss-Bachrach) who is pissed she dumped him just as things were getting serious. Seems that’s what she always does. But this is a real problem, because Maddie can barely afford to keep her childhood home as the property taxes have skyrocketed due to the influx of rich out-of-towners.
Maddie’s got beef with these stuck-up rich folks, too, because of some issues in her past. Nevertheless, she turns to a pair of them, Waspy helicopter parents Laird (Matthew Broderick) and Allison (Laura Benanti), who put out an ad looking for a woman to “date” their awkward son Percy, and make him a man before he goes off to college at Princeton. If she does it, her prize will be a not-so-shiny used green Buick. Rightfully, Maddie wonders if “date” actually means something else.
“Date him hard.”
“I’ll date his brains out.”
No Hard Feelings is walking a delicate tightrope because if pushed too far, it could all come across as pretty gross. Maddie’s friends seem to be struggling with her essentially prostituting herself to get a car, and doing it by taking advantage of a shy, repressed 19-year-old kid who doesn’t even understand when he’s being flirted with. The film is trying to have it both ways in some respects, by doing a classic sex comedy from a feminist, progressive angle by putting Maddie in control. It doesn’t always work, but thanks to some solid character development of both Maddie and Percy, the latter finding his mojo thanks to her friendly encouragement, it comes off better than it has any right to.
In her first true comedic lead, Lawrence throws everything into her performance. It’s a highly-sexualized role, with Lawrence throwing her ass in Feldman’s face on more than one occasion, getting drenched in water while wearing skin-tight clothes, and even going full frontal in a scene that a lot of people will be freeze-framing for years to come. Maddie is a tough character to get right; she’s messy and rough around the edges, but also haunted by a responsibility that has kept her in town longer than she needs.
The breakout performance, though, is from Feldman. There aren’t a ton of jokes for him in the script, so he makes the most of it with outstanding physicality. Watch as he practically leaps from his chair at the sound of a billiards break. Feldman plays scared of his own shadow as well as anyone ever has. Matched up with Lawrence he more than holds his own, especially in the quieter bonding moments, or when he performs an incredibly beautiful piano rendition of “Maneater”.
No Hard Feelings isn’t as dumb or explicit as it looks. Don’t get me wrong, it is both of those things, but this is also a movie about growing up and doing what’s best for you, not what’s easiest. Mainly, this is a showcase for Lawrence as a comedic star, proving that there’s really nothing she can’t do well on the big screen. I’m not saying to put this over her stellar dramatic work as in last year’s tremendous Causeway, but it’s good to know she’s also got stuff like this in her back pocket.
No Hard Feelings opens in theaters on June 23rd.
