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The R-rated studio comedy hardly makes any theatrical appearances these days, especially in the age of streaming. The only adult comedies usually come from Universal Pictures, which relish in genre-bending (" Cocaine Bear ," " Renfield "), mixing up concepts for kids but with a mature twist (the upcoming "Strays"), or banking on a comedian closely associated with Judd Apatow (" Bros "). But a solo comedic vehicle for an A-lister to show off their comedic chops (and not from Universal) sounds like a pipe dream. But Sony and Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence have made that pipe dream into a raunchy reality with the confident '80s-styled R-rated comedy "No Hard Feelings."

Directed by Gene Stupnitsky (" Good Boys ," co-creator of Freevee's " Jury Duty "), the film centers on Maddie Barker (Lawrence), a Montauk-based Uber driver in her early thirties and on the verge of bankruptcy. When her car gets repossessed by her scorned tow trucker ex Gary ( Ebon Moss-Bachrach ), the house that her late mother left her is about to foreclose, and the income from her mundane part-time bartending job at a seafood-themed bar is far from enough to suffice. Resorting to Craigslist, Maddie answers an odd job listing that offers a Buick Regal as compensation. The position: date a wealthy couple's ( Matthew Broderick and Laura Benanti ) 19-year-old son Percy ( Andrew Barth Feldman ) for the summer, get him out of his shell, and pop his first cherry before heading to Princeton University in the fall; all while Percy is unsuspecting of his parents' involvement. Initially thinking the gig would be a piece of cake, Percy's clueless, awkward anxiety-riddled vibe gives Maddie a run for her money.

Since departing from Creative Artists Agency in 2018, Jennifer Lawrence's recent return to the big screen boasts liberation from the intensity she poured into her past few roles. Her days of prestigious Oscar bait and being a franchise star who wore exhaustion in her performances are over. Today, with each new project, her agency and freedom are prominent. In "No Hard Feelings," Lawrence proudly lets her freak flag fly.

Through the rambunctious, hasty cynical Maddie, Lawrence returns to her comedic roots from 2007's "The Bill Engvall Show" and aces each facet of her performance here. She has the same skillful comedic ability as Anna Faris , Charlize Theron , Emma Stone , and Regina Hall , who flip their sensuality on a dime and dive into silly behavior. Lawrence has expert comic timing, especially with Maddie's cynical clap backs and insults. Even for a skilled talent like Lawrence, she still impresses with her commitment to outrageous feats of physical comedy. Nothing she has done as Mystique in any of the " X-Men " films will measure up to Maddie going full pro-wrestler on a bunch of teenagers in her birthday suit.

"No Hard Feelings" boasts a breakthrough standout performance by Andrew Barth Feldman, who leaps from the Broadway stage to the silver screen as a delightful foil to Maddie. His Percy is like the anthesis of Gary from Paul Thomas Anderson's " Licorice Pizza "; Instead of pursuing a woman of his elder, he does everything in his power to maintain abstinence at a slow and steady pace. He's the perfect foil for Lawrence's Maddie, garnering numerous laughs with his timid demeanor contrasting her outward confident spirit.

Lawrence's and Feldman's offbeat budding chemistry bolsters the film's humor more than the mediocre material. The best gags are all spoiled in the much better-edited trailer, which quickly cuts to the next joke, as opposed to the final product, where shots often linger on an actor's reaction to whatever wackiness is occurring. Throughout this movie, I patiently waited for a singular laugh-out-loud moment not from the promos. That moment never arrived.

Director Stupnitsky is no stranger to combining the sincere and absurd. His previous feature endeavor, "Good Boys," did just that and prospered thanks to its central young cast. His most recent project as a series co-creator, "Jury Duty," followed suit using the charming non-actor subject Ronald Gladden. "No Hard Feelings" persists in trying to have its raunchy cake full of sweet sentimental frosting, but the frustrating script forces its gags and drama. The film's comedic and dramatic facets attempt to garner a rise reaction from the audience without balancing the two.

Halfway through, "No Hard Feelings" reaches a gag high point and abruptly stops, sacrificing scenes of dating mishaps for juxtaposed stories about two lonely people of different generations and classes influencing each other to grow up. As sharp as they may seem, these elements are too familiar to "Licorice Pizza" and Lawrence's previous lead project " Causeway ," two films that more robustly depicted these budding arcs. Around this movie's second half, the outlandish comedy is lost in unearned character drama straight from an entirely separate script.

If it wasn't for Lawrence and Barth Feldman's joint comedic excellence, with their commanding charm and chemistry fueling its laughs, "No Hard Feelings" would have been a disaster. But thanks to them, it's a serviceable summer comedy that should keep the J. Law lovers happy, even though her talents are better used elsewhere.

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Rendy Jones

Rendy Jones (they/he) is a film and television journalist born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. They are the owner of self-published independent outlet Rendy Reviews, a member of the Critics' Choice Association, GALECA, and a part time stand-up comedian.

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Film Credits

No Hard Feelings (2023)

Rated R for sexual content, language, some graphic nudity and brief drug use.

103 minutes

Jennifer Lawrence as Maddie Barker

Andrew Barth Feldman as Percy Becker

Laura Benanti as Allison Becker

Matthew Broderick as Laird Becker

Natalie Morales as Sara

Scott MacArthur as Jim

Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Gary

Kyle Mooney as Jody

Hasan Minhaj as Doug Kahn

Jordan Mendoza as Crispin

Amalia Yoo as Natalie

• Gene Stupnitsky
• John Phillips

Cinematographer

• Eigil Bryld
• Brent White
• Mychael Danna
• Jessica Rose Weiss

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‘no hard feelings’ review: jennifer lawrence shines in sweet and saucy summer comedy.

The actress stars alongside Andrew Barth Feldman in Gene Stupnitsky's movie about a woman hired by an awkward teen's parents to boost his confidence by dating him.

By Lovia Gyarkye

Lovia Gyarkye

Arts & Culture Critic

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No Hard Feelings, Gene Stupnitsky ‘s satisfyingly funny summer comedy, opens with a tow truck and a desperate woman.

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It’s under these terrible circumstances that Maddie finds a peculiar Craigslist advertisement. A rich couple (played by Laura Benanti and Matthew Broderick ), desperate for their son (Andrew Barth Feldman) to gain confidence before college, is looking for someone to casually date him. Love, lust and sexual experimentation will loosen up their anxious teen and catapult him into adulthood, they hope. Oh, and they will give the family’s old Buick to whoever gets the job done.

This premise instigates the action in No Hard Feelings . The film, directed and co-written by Stupnitsky ( Good Boys ), is modeled after the raunchy comedies of the early aughts — the kind of mid-budget studio flicks that end up buried in the algorithmic madness of a streaming service these days. This airy and refreshingly low-stakes comedy will have you steadily chuckling, if not necessarily rolling on the floor laughing. But it also has a surprising amount of heart.

Lawrence is a big part of the reason No Hard Feelings works. She’s sharp and sassy as the hyper-independent, emotionally avoidant lover with a short fuse. It’s fun to watch the actress embrace her sillier register, but her dramatic skills are a boon, too, lending depth to a character that could be one-note and making it easier to believe the more emotional turns the film takes later.

Maddie manages to convince Allison (Benanti) and Laird (Broderick) that, although she’s older than the requested age (early-to-mid 20s), she’s the right person to help their son Percy (Feldman) out of his shell. As these things go, Maddie must keep the exchange with the parents a secret and stage a meet-cute with Percy. Their first encounter is, conveniently, at the animal shelter where Percy works during the summer. He’s not a local like Maddie; he’s a “summer person,” a phrase Maddie scornfully uses to refer to the vacationers driving up the cost of living.

Maddie comes on strong and Percy, who prefers to be alone, rejects her initial advances. Feldman’s chronically uncomfortable teen plays well against Lawrence’s energizer bunny-esque adult. The two represent a generational divide between Gen Z and elder millennials, a contrast that provides the substance for many of the film’s jokes. Maddie doesn’t understand why Percy doesn’t drink or know how to drive, or why he isn’t constantly horny. “What’s wrong with your generation?” reactions become something of a refrain, which starts to feel tired by the end of the film. Percy, on the other hand, finds himself simultaneously attracted to and afraid of Maddie, who he, on more than one occasion, suggests embodies the Hall & Oates song “Maneater.”

In its commitment to a particular kind of sentimentalism, No Hard Feelings doesn’t fully lean into the raunchiness some might expect from its trailer or early buzz. It also doesn’t become a Licorice Pizza kind of story — Maddie is clear on her end goal and Percy’s awkwardness can’t be overcome so easily. From its early moments, the film suggests that the bond between these two lonely souls is based on the strength of their friendship. The film’s shift into a more emotional gear isn’t seamless — the narrative takes some clunky turns in order to keep itself moving — but it is ultimately endearing.

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Thank Goodness for Jennifer Lawrence’s R-Rated Rom-Com

No Hard Feelings is more sweet than sexy—and that’s okay.

Jennifer Lawrence should have starred in an R-rated comedy long ago. She’s practically auditioned for one her entire career, on daytime shows and in late-night appearances where she displayed a freewheeling, uninhibited demeanor that made her a household name. She drank with talk-show hosts. She told bawdy anecdotes. She claimed she could recite all of Dumb and Dumber , Anchorman , and Step Brothers . A YouTube compilation of her off-the-cuff moments in interviews—labeled “Jennifer Lawrence funniest moments ever (MUST WATCH)” —has garnered 10 million views.

Thank goodness for No Hard Feelings , in which Lawrence looks like she’s having the most fun she’s ever had on-screen, finally releasing the pent-up screwball energy she’s never been able to fully channel into her characters before. In the film, now in theaters, she plays Maddie, a 32-year-old, down-on-her-luck Uber driver in Montauk, New York. After her car is towed, she responds to a Craigslist ad posted by a wealthy couple seeking a young woman to date their shy 19-year-old son, Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman), and take his virginity before he heads to college. Her reward? A used Buick. The setup is a bit contrived, seemingly positioning the movie as a raunchy studio romp that’ll help Hollywood return to its American Pie glory days. But the resulting film is more goofy and sweet than obscene. No Hard Feelings is not about to usher in a new era in mainstream sex comedies—it is, however, a delightful showcase for Lawrence’s movie-star verve.

Read: A rom-com that seduces the old-fashioned way

For one thing, Lawrence is gifted at physical comedy. When she dons Rollerblades to skate across town, she moves with the intense determination of an Olympian. When, still in Rollerblades, she tries to steal her car back from a parking lot, she skids and flops and twists as if she’s lost her bones. When she attempts to seduce Percy by going skinny-dipping, only for their clothes to be snatched by a group of bullies, she storms out of the water, buck naked, and beats them up like a very blond, very tan Hulk. It’s an over-the-top, overcommitted performance that never feels like caricature, in part because Lawrence imbues Maddie with a pained righteousness. Maddie relishes being an agent of chaos, but Lawrence doesn’t play her as heartless; she’s only desperate to stay in Montauk and maintain the home her mother left her. If that requires sleeping with a soon-to-be college student for a Buick, so be it.

Except No Hard Feelings refuses to ever get that explicit, peppering its dialogue with plenty of sex jokes but largely shying away from actual sexual encounters. Maddie bares her soul more frequently than she does her skin, transforming the story, through Lawrence and Feldman’s jagged chemistry, into a rather tender depiction of an unusual friendship. Though at times I wished the film took more risks with its humor, I appreciated how both characters subvert the stereotypes of sex comedies past: Maddie is no mindless bimbo, and Percy is no milquetoast nerd. The film also surrounds them with cartoonish characters and scenarios—the Saturday Night Live alum Kyle Mooney pops up as a male nanny, and at one point, Maddie has to fend off a group of Gen Zers filming her at their high-school party—injecting the film with a dose of absurdity that keeps Maddie and Percy’s relationship from becoming too syrupy.

Read: What is the meaning of Mother! ?

Like the Risky Business copycats and hot-girl-meets-dweeby-dude romantic comedies that thrived in the aughts and early 2010s, No Hard Feelings offers some insight into the role that sex plays in the coming-of-age process, and how a perceived pressure to lose your virginity by some arbitrary deadline can remain a cross-generational burden. The film explores the difficulties of growing up, whether at 19 or 32, and the ways in which Maddie’s and Percy’s attitudes toward sex invite judgment about their levels of maturity. In some ways, it’s a referendum on the value of raunch itself. Percy never seems that interested in losing his virginity to Maddie; her double entendres and seduction techniques just scare him. And when the film does get lewd, such scenes are in stark contrast to the tranquil beachside backdrop. Of course, No Hard Feelings isn’t trying too hard to make a point, moving merrily along as it forgoes filthy jokes in favor of good-humored affection. More than anything, it’s an excellent vehicle for Lawrence to flex her comic muscles—something I hope she’ll attempt again before long.

‘No Hard Feelings’ Review: Jennifer Lawrence’s Semi-Rom-Com Flirts With Risky Business but Plays It Safe

Lawrence plays a Montauk Uber driver hired to take a 19-year-old's virginity in a satire of the safe-space generation that's mostly a big tease.

By Owen Gleiberman

Owen Gleiberman

Chief Film Critic

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Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman) is the aforementioned 19-year-old, whose wealthy parents ( Matthew Broderick , smug in long gray boomer hair, and Laura Benanti) have a posh home in Montauk, and it seems they’ve devoted their lives to overprotecting him. They’re helicopter perfectionists who track his every move, have the passcode to his phone, and have made sure that his entire existence exemplifies the safe-space generation. The result? Percy is a morose loner with no friends, who doesn’t drive or drink or do anything fun, and is getting ready to ship off to college as a monkish arrested-development case.

As an actor, Jennifer Lawrence radiates pride, sensuality, and a glowing belief in herself, and I didn’t buy for a moment that her Maddie would sign on to sleeping with some kid all to gain access to a car , so that she could rejoin the gig economy, because otherwise her beloved house will go poof! But watching “No Hard Feelings,” you sort of roll with it, because the director and co-screenwriter, Gene Stupnisky (“Good Boys”), works with a confectionary skill that tugs you along, because in spirit it’s just a rom-com (a form not meant to pass the plausibility test), and because Lawrence, acting with a brazen theatrical sexiness that allows her to wink at the audience at how adeptly she can turn it off and on, and big-screen newcomer Andrew Barth Feldman, who’s like Mike White crossed with the pale son of Seth Meyers crossed with an amoeba, turns out to be a winning actor.

The two characters meet when Maddie, faking everything she says, stops into the animal shelter where Percy is working as a volunteer. She’s wearing a skin-tight raspberry mini-dress and strappy gold platform heels, and her every line about adopting a dog is an aggressive double entendre. The joke is that it all falls on deaf ears; Percy does not appear to be a kid with an inner dog. In fact, “No Hard Feelings” does such a good job of establishing that Maggie’s sex-bomb exhibitionism is all theater, done from pure opportunism, and that Percy has no hormonal response to it, that the film effectively defangs any possible romantic or erotic danger from either side. It’s like “Risky Business” restaged as low-risk management.

For a while, Maddie tries to goad Percy into finding his inner wild boy. At a bar, she orders him a Long Island Ice Tea (which he thinks tastes like bad ice tea), and at the beach she coerces him into a nude midnight ocean swim, an adventure cut short when some rude kids decide to steal their clothes. The scene that follows, in which Maddie runs out of the ocean and engages them in physical combat, all while she herself remains totally full-frontal naked, plays as a weird piece of exploitation. It was completely unnecessary to film Lawrence in that way, apart from someone’s calculation about how much it would add to the film’s box-office take. But to demonstrate that the movie is practicing equal-opportunity nudity, Percy winds up naked on the hood of a speeding car, in a scene that feels like it would kill to be taking place in a junk teen comedy of the ’80s.

Somehow, though, it doesn’t come to much. The script of “No Hard Feelings” creates its own safe space, designed to do little more than let Maddie and Percy form a friendship in which they Help Each Other Grow. Jokes about finger traps, the spraying of mace, and a dog that likes cocaine are all less funny than examples of the movie trying too hard. Lawrence is looser and more rambunctious than she’s been in any film since “American Hustle,” and Feldman never seems less than an authentic 19-year-old. This young actor has presence, and an earnestness that makes it feel like he’s beyond fakery. But that works for the movie and against it. For all its handwringing about Generation Safe, “No Hard Feelings” presents Percy as a naïve and anxious but basically ordinary teenager who doesn’t really need to do anything but grow up on his own terms. It’s the film that’s trying to whoosh him forward. On some level it wants him to be as concocted as the situation in which he finds himself.

Reviewed at AMC Lincoln Square, June 20, 2023. MPA Rating: R. Running time: 103 MIN.

• Production: A Sony Pictures Releasing release of a Columbia Pictures, Saks Picture Company, Excellent Cadaver, Odenkirk Provissiero Entertainment release. Producers: Alex Saks, Naomi Odenkirk, Marc Provissiero, Jennifer Lawrence, Justine Ciarrocchi. Executive producers: Kerry Orent, John Phillips.
• Crew: Director: Gene Stupnitsky. Screenplay: Gene Stupnitsky, John Phillips. Camera: Eigil Bryld. Editor: Brent White. Music: Mychael Danna, Jessica Rose Weiss.
• With: Jennifer Lawrence, Andrew Barth Feldman, Matthew Broderick, Laura Benanti, Natalie Morales, Hasan Minhaj, Scott MacArthur, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Kyle Mooney.

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No hard feelings, common sense media reviewers.

Raunchy, earnest comedy about fake romance; swearing, sex.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Genuine friendship can develop between two very di

Not many role models, but Sara and Jim are good fr

Main characters are White, but a few background ch

Percy sprays Maddie in the face with mace more tha

The movie's premise is that Percy's parents hire M

Near-constant strong language includes "f--k," "f-

Several brands/products are discussed or seen for

Maddie is a part-time bartender and is shown servi

Parents need to know that No Hard Feelings is a raunchy comedy about wealthy helicopter parents who hire a 32-year-old woman named Maddie (Jennifer Lawrence) to date and seduce their 19-year-old son, Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman), so that he can go to college with more confidence. Things get fairly crass as…

Positive Messages

Genuine friendship can develop between two very different people. Parents need to let their children grow and succeed on their own without micromanaging everything for them. Adults need to process their past trauma in order to keep moving forward. Subplot about need for affordable housing so that rich folks don't overly gentrify and push out locals in vacation towns or neighborhoods. Themes also include compassion and empathy.

Positive Role Models

Not many role models, but Sara and Jim are good friends to Maddie, and she's a loyal friend to them. The Beckers are loving if hovering parents who have to learn to let their son make his own decisions and mistakes. Percy is intelligent and kind, and wants sex and romance to mean something. Maddie has serious commitment issues but is a good friend to Sara and him and was clearly a devoted daughter to her late mother. She grows to truly care for Percy.

Diverse Representations

Main characters are White, but a few background characters are people of color: Maddie's friend and lawyer is Native American (Zahn McClarnon, who is Hunkpapa Lakota and Irish); Percy's classmate is Asian (Amalia Yoo, who's Korean, Puerto Rican, and Greek). Natalie Morales (who's Cuban) plays Sara, who's of ambiguous heritage. Two teen boys at a party call Maddie out for hurling a homophobic insult about them having sex with each other. The primary form of diversity in the movie is economic: Maddie and her friends are working- and middle-class "townies," while Percy and his family are rich summer people.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

Percy sprays Maddie in the face with mace more than once, causing her to bawl and fall down in pain. Maddie gets into a physical altercation with three drunk teens who play a prank by stealing Percy and Maddie's clothes while they're skinny-dipping. She punches and pushes them, and they hurt one another in the genitals. Maddie pushes her way through a closed door and pulls Percy out of bed with a woman. Quick glimpse of Percy playing a graphically violent video game. Percy and Maddie each jump on the hood of a car while it's moving. In one case, the car is nearly hit by a train; in the other, the car ends up in the ocean.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

The movie's premise is that Percy's parents hire Maddie to date and have sex with him as a way to get him out of his shell before college. Lots of sexual innuendo, overt propositioning. Maddie all but coerces Percy to go skinny-dipping, and there's a nonsexual scene with full-frontal nudity as she runs out of the water to physically confront the teens who've taken their clothes. Maddie offers to have sex with Percy, but he wants to wait; later, she wants to wait. Eventually they try to have sex (under the covers). In conversations, Maddie and her friend discuss all the reasons women have sex with men. Percy is found shirtless in bed with a girl.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Near-constant strong language includes "f--k," "f---ing," "f----r," "s--t," "a--hole," "d--k," "dumbass," "bitch," "goddamn," "ass," and one use of "c--t."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Several brands/products are discussed or seen for more than a brief glimpse, including Toyota, Buick, Tesla, Mercedes, iPhone, MacBook, Calvin Klein. Maddie identifies as an Uber driver and mentions the company several times. Craigslist is also mentioned a few times.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Maddie is a part-time bartender and is shown serving and prepping drinks. Adults drink at bars, meals, and get-togethers. Underage drinking: Older teens (17- to 19-year-olds who've just graduated from high school) drink to excess and "take pills" at a party. The pill in question turns out to be ibuprofen. Percy's parents let him have a glass of wine at dinner. Maddie and her adult friends share a joint and smoke regular cigarettes on a couple of occasions. A former K-9 dog is known to have gotten addicted to cocaine in the line of duty.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that No Hard Feelings is a raunchy comedy about wealthy helicopter parents who hire a 32-year-old woman named Maddie ( Jennifer Lawrence ) to date and seduce their 19-year-old son, Percy ( Andrew Barth Feldman ), so that he can go to college with more confidence. Things get fairly crass as the movie follows Maddie's attempts to earn her payment (a Buick sedan). Expect tons of sexual innuendo, conversations about sex, and flat-out propositions, as well as one sequence featuring Lawrence fully naked in a nonsexual context. Language is in nearly every scene and extremely strong, with dozens of uses of "f--k" and its variants, plus "s--t," "ass," "a--hole," "bitch," and one use of "c--t." Adults have drinks at pubs, dinners, and parties -- one party has excessive underage drinking. Thirty-something-aged friends smoke cigarettes and marijuana in a couple of scenes. Violent moments are mostly played for humor, including Percy spraying Maddie in the face with mace (more than once), physical fights, and characters jumping onto the hoods of moving cars. Set in the ritzy summer beach town of Montauk, New York, the movie also explores the tensions between middle- and lower-income "townies" and rich summer folks in vacation areas. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

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Community Reviews

• Parents say (13)
• Kids say (11)

Based on 13 parent reviews

NOT FOR KIDS

This is a movie on how to be a sexual predator.not funny., what's the story.

NO HARD FEELINGS is a broad comedy about Maddie Barker ( Jennifer Lawrence ), a 32-year-old woman from Montauk, New York, whose car is repossessed because she hasn't paid property taxes on the home she inherited from her late mother. Because she only has 90 days to make it right, Maddie is desperate to supplement her bartending income with her Uber gig -- but she needs a car. When her best friend Sara ( Natalie Morales ) points out a Craigslist ad offering a free Buick sedan to a woman in her mid-20s if she'll "date" the poster's inexperienced 19-year-old son before he heads to college, Maddie figures she's got little to lose. After a quick meeting with helicopter parents Laird ( Matthew Broderick ) and Allison ( Laura Benanti ), Maddie accepts the confidential gig and sets off to meet and seduce their virginal, introverted son, Percy ( Andrew Barth Feldman ), who volunteers at the local animal shelter. But Percy isn't the kind of guy who's interested in a one-night stand, and he's so alarmed at this beautiful older woman's assertive behavior that he maces her. Eventually, the two have more dates and get to know each other, causing Maddie to regret deceiving Percy.

Is It Any Good?

This is an uneven but amusing comedy about relationships, friendship, and first love. Lawrence, no stranger to playing down-on-her-luck characters, leans completely into her comedic wheelhouse to play Maddie, a commitment-phobe who's not a sex worker but is open to having sex with a younger guy in exchange for a car. After all, she needs the car to work, and she needs to work to make sure the bank -- and rich summer jerks -- don't get ahold of the house where she was raised. Lawrence's performance is buoyed by her chemistry with Morales, who also has finely honed comedic abilities. Feldman is believable as a neurotic, sweet, sheltered young man whose parents have hovered so much that they're misguidedly trying to oversee his love life. Percy and Maddie make an unlikely pair, but that's a big part of the comedy -- both in her context of a local pub and also in his, a swanky party with Princeton-bound seniors. Despite her beauty, there's no doubt that Maddie doesn't belong at a party with 17- to 19-year-olds.

Writer-director Gene Stupnitsky mixes the raunch with earnestness, but he doesn't fully commit to either style. The result isn't always effective, but No Hard Feelings manages to capture how two people with different backgrounds and levels of experience can still connect in a way that's not solely about the physical. Sure, the jokes are mostly sexual, but the story's heart is about relationship building, not some American Pie -style quest about virginity loss. After all, in this movie, it's Percy's parents who want him to get some, while he's looking for much more than a hookup. This isn't the sort of movie that demands a rewatch, but it's funny (and cute) enough to offer a unique twist on the stereotypical coming-of-age comedy.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about Percy's approach to sex and relationships -- versus Maddie's -- in No Hard Feelings . Which of them do you tend to agree with more? Why?

What's the movie's message about "helicopter parents" and parenting children over 18? Do you think Percy has a healthy relationship with his parents?

How does the movie depict drinking and recreational drug use? Are there any consequences for either, or both? Why does that matter?

Talk about gender roles in the movie. Why is a virginal 19-year-old boy considered funny? Would this story have worked if the main characters' genders had been swapped? Why, or why not?

How do characters demonstrate compassion and empathy ?

Movie Details

• In theaters : June 23, 2023
• On DVD or streaming : August 15, 2023
• Cast : Jennifer Lawrence , Andrew Barth Feldman , Laura Benanti
• Director : Gene Stupnitsky
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : Columbia Pictures
• Genre : Comedy
• Topics : Friendship
• Character Strengths : Compassion , Empathy
• Run time : 103 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : sexual content, language, some graphic nudity and brief drug use
• Last updated : May 17, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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No Hard Feelings review: an R-rated comedy in need of more bite

“No Hard Feelings may not be the instant classic R-rated comedy that it had the potential to be, but it is a fun, refreshingly unapologetic alternative to many of this summer's family-friendly titles.”

• Outrageous lead performances
• A crew of scene-stealing supporting players
• Several laugh-out-loud, surprisingly bold sequences
• Disjointed pacing throughout
• An uneven mix of emotional sincerity and screwball debauchery
• An ending that's just a bit too sweet for its own good

No Hard Feelings is the type of movie that could prompt one to say something akin to “They just don’t make them like this anymore.” Anyone who describes the new, Jennifer Lawrence -led film in such a way will be undeniably correct, too. The movie is a mid-budget, R-rated studio comedy the likes of which have pretty much vanished from the current Hollywood market. Not only does it feel like it’s been years since a film like this has gotten a wide release in America, but it’s been an equally long time since a movie star of Lawrence’s profile and caliber has chosen to do some of the things in No Hard Feelings that she does.

If there’s one thing that can’t be said about Lawrence anymore, it’s that she’s afraid of taking risks. For years, the starlet seemed trapped in a mill of mediocrity that produced a number of phoned-in performances in equally lifeless films like X-Men: Apocalypse , X-Men: Dark Phoenix , and Passengers . Between her purposefully understated work in last year’s Causeway  and her go-for-broke, gonzo lead turn in No Hard Feelings , though, Lawrence has returned to a level of bravery and comfortability on-screen that makes it easy to remember why she briefly became the biggest actress of her generation a decade ago.

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Together, she and No Hard Feelings director and co-writer Gene Stupnitsky make an entertaining case for why more R-rated comedies like it should be made and seen on a large scale again. What the film doesn’t do quite as successfully is make much of a strong case for itself as a worthy addition to the existing canon of R-rated comedy classics. It offers a fun time at the theater, no doubt, but it’d be a stretch to pay No Hard Feelings any higher of a compliment than that.

Inspired by a real-life Craigslist ad, the film’s plot follows Maddie Barker (Lawrence), a floundering Montauk native whose hopes of saving her mom’s house from being repossessed are dashed when the car she uses as a part-time Uber driver is towed away. Desperate to get back on the road, Maddie responds to a Craigslist ad created by rich helicopter parents Laird (Matthew Broderick) and Allison Becker (Laura Benanti, perfectly cast alongside Broderick), who offer to give Maddie a used car free of charge in exchange for her agreeing to “date” their socially reclusive son, Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman). In their first meeting, Laird and Allison make it explicitly clear what they mean when they say they want Maddie to “date” Percy and help him break out of his shell.

What follows is a vulgar comedy in which Maddie tries, to surprising difficulty, to get Percy to sleep with her. The film’s plot, along with its treatment of Maddie and Percy’s “relationship,” makes it feel like it could have easily fit in among the kind of horny American comedies of the 1970s and ‘80s. Of course, had No Hard Feelings been made 30 or 40 years ago, Percy’s sheepish responses to Maddie’s numerous, blatantly obvious sexual advances might not have been treated like the unsurmountable roadblocks that they are in the film. That is, for the most part, a good thing.

Despite the potential present in its premise, No Hard Feelings successfully avoids becoming simply a grating exploration or endorsement of male fantasy. The film is firmly rooted in the perspective of its female lead, whose brashness and unapologetic nature make her a suitable character for a performer like Lawrence. The Oscar winner’s confidence on-screen is on full display in No Hard Feelings , and the film’s best scenes are those that directly juxtapose her boldness against Feldman’s palpable awkwardness as Percy.

Following a necessary but slow first act, No Hard Feelings kicks into gear once it’s actually paired Lawrence up with Feldman. Maddie and Percy’s initial “dates” are when the film is at its most effective and screwball — highlights include an unfortunate use of mace on the part of Feldman’s socially inept high school graduate and a naked brawl on the beach between Lawrence and a group of idiotic teenagers. Lawrence’s willingness to literally bare it all in the latter scene cements No Hard Feelings ’ place as the first big-screen American comedy in quite some time that is, at the very least, willing to go further than most of the other, straight-to-streaming originals that have been made in recent years.

The film, unfortunately, doesn’t maintain the same manic comedic high in its second half as it does in its first. In its attempts to flesh out Maddie and Percy’s emotional backstories, Stupnitsky and John Phillips’ script forces No Hard Feelings to adopt an uneven pace throughout its second act that can, at times, become distracting. Although there are endless comedic possibilities present in a potential falling out between its two leads, No Hard Feelings also fails to deliver a final third that’s as funny as its first.

In addition to Lawrence and Feldman, Stupnitsky wisely fills out No Hard Feelings ’ cast with a lineup of heavy-hitting supporting players, including Broderick and Benanti as Percy’s overly caring parents and Natalie Morales and Scott MacArthur as a straight-shooting married couple who serve as Maddie’s closest friends and advisors. No one turns in quite as memorable of a minor performance in the film, though, as former SNL cast member Kyle Mooney, whose comedic chemistry with Lawrence turns his only two scenes into some of No Hard Feelings ’ funniest.

There’s an acidic touch to the sequences involving Mooney’s adult nanny, Jody, as there is in all of the film’s best moments. It’s to No Hard Feelings ’ own detriment that the film then decides in its last act to move away from the comedic ruthlessness of its first hour. The movie ultimately opts for a surprisingly sweet, occasionally saccharine conclusion, one that prioritizes its characters’ respective arcs over the many comedic swings it could take. To their credit, Lawrence and Feldman both sell the emotional realities of their characters, but Stupnitsky’s largely by-the-numbers direction doesn’t do much to elevate No Hard Feelings ’ duller sections — namely, its closing 10 minutes.

The result of these various highs and lows is a comedy that feels refreshingly unapologetic and bold, but also a bit too sugary sweet for its own good. Like so many modern American comedies, it lacks the unwavering edge to strike much of a lasting chord. They definitely don’t make them like this anymore, it’s true, and No Hard Feelings ’ funniest moments remind us why they should. All we can do is hope that whatever movies spring from its potential success manage to be just a little bit better.

No Hard Feelings is now playing in theaters.

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Review: Jennifer Lawrence and ‘No Hard Feelings’ deliver a just-right summer sex comedy

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In 2018, Jennifer Lawrence was 28 and one of the biggest movie stars in the world: an Academy Award-winning actor , a veteran of the “Hunger Games” franchise, alternating between prestige projects and giant action movies. But not all of those films were good, and Lawrence didn’t seem to be having all that much fun. So she fired her agents and took a break to get married and have a baby. It was a smart move, because Lawrence is back now, and it’s a whole new ball game.

Last year, Lawrence produced and starred in the gritty indie film “Causeway,” as a veteran recovering from a traumatic brain injury, for a first-time female director, Lila Neugebauer. Her follow-up swings in the opposite direction, kicking up her heels in a good old-fashioned sex comedy, “No Hard Feelings,” which she also produced.

Directed by Gene Stupnitsky ( “Good Boys” ), “No Hard Feelings” is a direct descendant of ‘80s teen coming-of-age comedies but evolved for a new generation. It’s a “Superbad”-style story with the sensitivity and class consciousness of John Hughes, a delightfully raunchy streak, and Lawrence going for broke in a bold and bawdy performance as a rowdy Long Island surfer girl doing her best Mae West.

There simply aren’t enough female dirtbags in cinema, so Lawrence’s Maddie Barker — Uber driver, surly bartender and pissed-off Montauk townie — is a refreshing character. Her car’s been just repossessed, towed by her ex Gary (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), and with unpaid property tax bills looming, she needs wheels.

Enter the weirdest Craigslist ad of all time: A pair of wealthy helicopter parents ( Matthew Broderick and Laura Benanti) would like to “arrange” for a young woman to date their sheltered, nerdy son, Percy ( Andrew Barth Feldman ) in exchange for a Buick. Maddie needs a car, and she’s willing to romance a (legal) teenager, so off she roller skates for what she hopes will be a quick and easy venture into sex work.

But of course, it’s never about the destination but the friends we make along the way, and “No Hard Feelings” would never deny us that journey. Maddie and Percy forge a bond after a disastrous date that results in both experiencing harrowing bodily harm while in the buff, and something like a friendship blossoms between these two oddballs, who are odd in different ways. He’s 19, she’s 32; he’s obsessed with rules, she’s on probation.

Feldman, a 21-year-old Broadway star (“Dear Evan Hansen”) in his first starring film role, shines as Percy, the anxious, cautious foil to Maddie’s reckless wild child. There’s a beautiful subtlety to his performance and a precision to his physicality that makes him an incredibly compelling screen presence, and their opposites-attract chemistry is ridiculously charming.

What makes “No Hard Feelings” so sharp and funny though, isn’t the raunchy jokes or the physical comedy (though the sight of Lawrence bouncing Feldman on her knee might be the funniest image onscreen this summer), it’s the savagery of the generational social commentary underpinning the script by Stupnitsky and John Phillips, and no generation is safe.

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The overbearing Gen X parents enable their anxious, self- and cellphone-obsessed zoomer children, jettisoning discipline while trying to be “cool,” locked in a toxic co-dependent dynamic that never allows their children to fail, or succeed. Meanwhile, the poor millennials are immature, jobless and living at home — too young to own property and too old to be TikTok stars, but at least they know how to have a good time. It’s a scarily accurate skewering that should hopefully inspire some self-reflection.

“No Hard Feelings” feels more substantive in these moments of cultural observation and emotional depth. Maddie needs a car to save her house, and Percy needs a date in order to come out of his shell. But what they both really need, and what they find, is someone to just listen and to share vulnerability in return. Maddie might push Percy to do embarrassing, scary things, but in return, he pushes her to do the same.

The third act is a bit rushed and rickety — the big climactic moment is too wacky, the denouement all too easy. But the preceding 90 minutes are such an easy-breezy, uninhibited good time, anchored by two killer comedic performances and surprisingly moving insights that make “No Hard Feelings” just the right kind of sweet, intoxicating comedy cocktail to kick off the summer.

Katie Walsh is a Tribune News Service film critic.

‘No Hard Feelings’

Rating: R, for sexual content, language, some graphic nudity and brief drug use Running time: 1 hour, 43 minutes Playing: Starts June 23 in general release

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No Hard Feelings Review: Jennifer Lawrence’s Bold, Raunchy Performance Can’t Save A Dull, Generic Comedy

No hard feelings too often leans on tropes to be effective and memorable..

Twenty years ago, comedy on the big screen was in the midst of a phenomenal moment. The success of Old School put a special spotlight on the stars who would become known as the Frat Pack – which led to successes like Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy , Wedding Crashers and Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story – and just around the corner was the rise of Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen , who would give us hits like The 40-Year-Old Virgin , Knocked Up , and Superbad . Every few months in the mid-‘00s, audiences were given the opportunity to gather in theaters and get sent into collective hysterics by a new big studio release, and it was bliss.

Release Date: June 23, 2023 Directed By:   Gene Stupnitsky Written By: Gene Stupnitsky & John Phillips Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Andrew Barth Feldman, Natalie Morales, Laura Benanti, and Matthew Broderick Rating: R for sexual content, language, some graphic nudity and brief drug use Runtime: 103 minutes

Now, that is an experience from which we are very much removed. Without the addition of a genre hook, theatrically-released studio comedies have somehow earned reputations as risks, and opportunities for movie-goers to gather together in theaters and laugh have become rare. It’s a sad state of affairs to say the least – and it makes it particularly disappointing to see a swing-and-a-miss like director Gene Stupnitsky’s No Hard Feelings : a film that has a lot going for it, particularly with Jennifer Lawrence as its lead, but one that too often leans on tropes to be effective and memorable.

Despite a fun based-on-a-true-story narrative, opportunity for some sharp commentary, and a bold comedic turn from a two-time Oscar winner, the movie can’t help itself from repeatedly utilizing tired narrative elements – rendering it consistently predicable and disallowing investment in the characters. Adding insult to injury, it’s never funny or clever enough to balance things out.

Co-written by Stupnitsky and John Phillips, No Hard Feelings centers on Maddie Barker ( Jennifer Lawrence ), an independent young woman living in Montauk, New York who, thanks to due back taxes, is on the verge of losing the house she inherited from her mother. Her only means of making the money she needs is working as an Uber driver during the tourist-heavy summer, but that plan falls through when an ex ( Ebon Moss-Bachrach ) comes around to tow her car. In order to keep her home, she needs a new set of wheels, and she discovers a way of getting some when perusing Craigslist and finding a post from a pair of worried helicopter parents (Laura Benanti, Matthew Broderick ).

Said parents are terrified of sending their intelligent, awkward teenage son Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman) off to college with limited social experience, and so they are willing to make a deal with a young woman. In exchange for dating the kid and taking his virginity, they are willing to sign over a used Buick Regal. Desperate and not having much in the way of sexual scruples, Maddie accepts the challenge, but she underestimates just how socially inept Percy actually is.

After starting strong, No Hard Feelings struggles to stay original.

No Hard Feelings hangs a lot on the comedic novelty of the beautiful Jennifer Lawrence ditching sexual subtlety and being reciprocated with rejection or extreme hesitance, but that conceit only gets the film so far. The ridiculously overt initial seduction attempt is good for a few laughs (conjured from a mix of innuendo, awkwardness and physical humor) as is a bout of nighttime skinny dipping that results in a bout of naked violence, but it’s not a bit that the movie can keep going for its full 103-minute runtime. It’s ultimately revealed as all special dressing for what is primarily a generic romantic comedy.

Stripped of its R-rated shenanigans and with a bigger age gap between the leads thrown into the mix, No Hard Feelings is revealed as a new swing at the same plot devices that were previously used for films like Can’t Buy Me Love , She’s All That , and Love Don’t Cost A Thing , and that means using a number of the same familiar story beats – all of which feel tired and boring. It’s not only frustrating to see worn clichés used blithely, but there are multiple instances where the natures of the characters are cast aside in the effort of creating “new” conflict (the worst offender being a scene where the cripplingly introverted Percy charismatically performs an impressive rendition of “Maneater” by Hall & Oates in the middle of a crowded restaurant). The movie starts well, but it devolves into familiar territory in the second act and never recovers.

No Hard Feelings has a talented cast, but it doesn't get the most out of it.

As is the case with just about everything she’s in, Jennifer Lawrence is the reason to watch No Hard Feelings , as she has both sharp timing and physical comedic instincts that help maximize a simple shot like Maddie getting around Montauk on a pair of roller blades. Andrew Barth Feldman additionally proves to be a find, as his charming gawkiness creates fun chemistry with his costar. Beyond the leads, however, the movie can be labeled underwhelming – not because of a lack of talent, but because of a lack of talent utilization.

In casting the film, Gene Stupnitsky brought a lot of funny performers aboard, but there is a shocking lack of effort represented in the work to try and make the characters pop or feel substantial. There are certainly opportunities to create memorable bits, like Zahn McClarnon playing Maddie’s lawyer, Kyle Mooney as Percy’s former nanny, and Hasan Minhaj cameoing as Maddie’s former classmate-turned-real estate broker, but the balance of comedy and exposition in their respective roles is far too tilted toward the latter. Natalie Morales and Scott MacArthur get the most to work with playing the protagonist’s best friends, but after a banter-filled introduction, they end up just being Maddie’s sounding board and nothing else. It’s a disappointing surprise in light of Stupnitsky past successes with talented ensembles, including TV shows The Office and Hello Ladies and the films Good Boys and Bad Teacher .

Similar to how big screen horror is currently having a significant moment, with audiences having a blast generating communal screams in cinemas worldwide, it feels like it’s only a matter of time before we see a resurgence with theatrically-released comedies… but No Hard Feelings isn’t going to be the feature that sparks it. It’s going to take a movie that’s fresh, inventive, and consistent to get that job done, and this one doesn’t have that energy. The film is funny in fits and starts and gives a lot of credence to Jennifer Lawrence’s comedic gifts, but it’s also too basic and familiar for its own good.

Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.

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No Hard Feelings review: Jennifer Lawrence carries a raunchy comedy that isn't raunchy enough

The oscar winner plays an uber driver hired to seduce a teenage virgin in an r-rated comedy that strives for heartfelt emotions.

Almost every month there’s an article somewhere bemoaning the death of the movie star. That giant charming presence on-screen that people will follow no matter what movie they appear in. If No Hard Feelings fails to find its audience, a few of those articles will surely appear. Yet as evidenced by the film and its lead performance, no one should be worried. The movie star is alive and well. Jennifer Lawrence proves, once again, that she can carry a film by the sheer force of her on-screen magnetism and performance agility.

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As with many such comedies, No Hard Feelings has an implausible jumpstart to its plot. Lawrence’s Maddie is an Uber driver and bartender in Montauk, Long Island, who faces losing her home to the IRS because she’s desperately behind on her property taxes. Her only chance to make money lies in a job listing from the parents of a 19-year-old virgin requesting a young woman to date their son, Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman). These helicopter parents (Laura Benanti and Matthew Broderick) want to break their son out of his awkward phase and are willing to pay for it. In a scene meant for hilarity, Lawrence, Broderick, and Benanti make much out of emphasizing the word “date” in a multitude of ways. It becomes clear exactly what they are asking Maddie to do. This is a raunchy sex comedy after all. Yet it remains chaste for the most part, just full of sex talk. The film finds its comedy in the myriad, and mostly unsuccessful, ways Maddie tries to seduce Percy.

The screenplay, written by John Phillips and the film’s director Gene Stupnitsky (director of Good Boys , and co-creator of the surprise streaming hit Jury Duty ), makes much of the economic disparity between the haves and have nots. Maddie and her friends are year-round Montauk residents who resent the rich folks descending on their town from New York City for the summer. The locals depend on these people to make money yet don’t like how they turn the town into their playground. So Maddie feels justified in taking advantage of these rich parents and their clueless son.

Lawrence is the main attraction and the reason the film works when it does. She’s so committed to the part that she makes this sometimes abrasive, sometimes confounding character utterly beguiling. The film gives Maddie a few psychological backstories to explain away her behavior. Yet it’s Lawrence that the audience is watching and no matter how flimsily the character is written, she delivers. Her comedy is utterly physical with pratfalls galore. She has a way with words, whether she’s brushing off someone with cruelty or opening up to a new friend. Throughout it all she remains highly watchable. The ultimate movie star.

Roth’s Percy is the romantically chaste type. He keeps resisting Maddie’s attempts to seduce him. Hence, Roth’s part is rather tricky; he has to plausibly act as if he’s not interested in Jennifer Lawrence. Still, he pulls it off with a sweet disposition that makes Percy’s awkwardness believable, even attractive. The rest of the characters are there to either act as sounding boards for Lawrence or to set the plot in motion and then vanish. Seems like an opportunity missed since the film is set up to be about class differences within Montauk. Yet after the set up, all of that is forgotten.

Unfortunately No Hard Feelings runs out of gas way before its end. Once the relationship between Maddie and Percy is established, the screenplay fails to find them a satisfying resolution. Obviously the conceit must be revealed, recriminations must follow and the madcap pursuit of sex must end. Yet the laughs stop as well. Lawrence remains game, even adding a dash of vulnerability to her performance. But the screenplay doesn’t give her any fresh notes to play and the film limps to its finale.

As a summer lark, No Hard Feelings makes for a nice diversion. Lawrence’s fans will find much to like and her physical commitment to the comedy should add to her flock of admirers. Yet it still feels like an opportunity missed. There could’ve been more laughs, the raunchy elements could’ve been pushed harder. A class  satire is introduced but never explored. Most unforgivably when you have a movie star like Lawrence, a more focused, funnier screenplay should’ve been written.

No Hard Feelings opens in theaters on June 23

No Hard Feelings (2023)

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No Hard Feelings review: Jennifer Lawrence may need to have a word with her agent

What exactly is this supposed to be the crummiest beta ai could produce a funnier movie than this one.

Jennifer Lawrence and Andrew Barth Feldman star in No Hard Feelings, whose plot is a weird conflation of gig-economy hustles, Uber driving, bar work, prostitution and sugaring. Photograph: Sony

No Hard Feelings is billed as a raunchy comedy, a description so inaccurate it evokes Nelson Muntz’s immortal take, in The Simpsons, on David Cronenberg’s Naked Lunch: “I can think of at least two things wrong with that title.”

Gene Stupnitsky, the writer-director who presided over Good Boys , was, presumably, aiming for edgy spectacle with a scene in which a naked Jennifer Lawrence charges toward three boisterous teens for a groin-kicking stand-off. Instead it’s emblematic of the entire horrifically misjudged, criminally unfunny enterprise.

What exactly is this supposed to be? With all solidarity to the Hollywood writers on the picket line, the crummiest beta AI could produce a funnier movie than this one.

Lawrence gurns and minces her way through an unholy constellation of bad ideas. Gen Z use their phones a lot and think millennials are old! Helicopter parents are overprotective! Something, something gentrification!

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The Oscar winner plays Maddie, a cash-strapped chancer who answers a Craigslist ad from a couple looking for someone to date their painfully awkward 19-year-old son, Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman). When she goes full Mrs Robinson at the animal shelter where the lad volunteers, her painful attempts to seduce him end with him pepper-spraying her.

It’s the first of several cringe-comedy sequences so devoid of merriment that this viewer longed for a sudden mace attack to get out of watching the rest of the film, whose plot is a weird conflation of gig-economy hustles, Uber driving, bar work, prostitution and sugaring.

Every pratfall, including the naked ones, is joyless and witlessly timed. Potentially interesting supporting characters, including Zahn McClarnon’s surfing lawyer, are introduced only to never reappear. The flat, dull dialogue is punctuated with strange, airless spaces during which a film critic can ponder their life choices and yearn for the comparatively halcyon days of lesser American Pie spin-offs.

“I’m crazy and I’m stupid,” Maddie yells during one of the failed naked pratfalls. Not at all, Jen, but you might need a word with your agent.

Tara Brady, a contributor to The Irish Times, is a writer and film critic

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No Hard Feelings Review

No Hard Feelings

Yes, the plot of No Hard Feelings sounds inherently silly — girl is broke, girl needs car, girl makes deal with boy’s parents to take his virginity for the price of a Buick Regal (when has that ever, ever happened?). But underneath the C-bombs, wiener jokes and slapstick stunts, there’s an unexpectedly heartwarming tale of friendship, and what it means to grow up.

Whilst the set-up implies Percy is the one who’ll be learning the language of love from Maddie, quelle surprise , turns out they both have a lot to teach each other. Andrew Feldman impresses in his first major role, and is genuinely touching as the shy youngster; a rule-follower whose naivety is a product of his parents’ over-coddling, and who breaks out in anxious hives at the first sign of romantic intimacy. He’s a character of contradictions, however — the fact his parents would enlist help from Maddie in this way is a stretch to begin with, but to see Percy’s relative ease with her implies he’s not as socially inept as that deal believably suggests.

Jennifer Lawrence is a riot.

Let loose to be her most comedic self for the first time, Jennifer Lawrence is a riot. Her confidence is palpable, and she proves herself quite the physical clown — Maddie’s exploits include struggling to roller-skate up a hill, getting accidentally punched in the throat, and wrestling with would-be thieves whilst fully naked on the beach. She really commits, and looks to be having a great time while doing so. Her dramatic chops are showcased too, as Maddie’s growing connection with Percy sees her open up about her familial trauma and commitment issues.

With the exception of some one-liners that work entirely due to quality delivery from Lawrence and the cast, No Hard Feelings blows most of its funny moments in the trailer. There are farcical set-pieces throughout, but they don’t build up enough momentum to elicit a true belly laugh — more like a good chuckle. It’s enough to keep you interested, though, and a supporting cast including Natalie Morales and Scott MacArthur as Maddie’s surfer friends, plus a wigged-up, linen-sporting Matthew Broderick as Percy’s dad Laird (a name that inspires a genuinely funny exchange), help boost the laughs across the board.

The age difference between 19-year-old Percy and 32-year-old Maddie is undeniably icky, but it’s 100 per cent meant to be, and something the film constantly addresses — Maddie is frequently confronted by the generational gap between her and Percy’s peers, but her immaturity means she also often seems childlike by comparison. The film also gives us far more to chew on thematically than it actually needed to: Percy’s self-imposed isolation speaks to a very Gen-Z kind of anxiety; Maddie’s only in dire financial straits because of the gentrification of her hometown. There’s nothing surprising about how No Hard Feelings plays out, but it invokes some pretty nice feelings along the way.

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Movies | 09 03 2023

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No Hard Feelings review – sporadically amusing Jennifer Lawrence romp

The charismatic star can’t quite save this bland tale of a woman employed to teach a young man about the ways of the world

M addie (Jennifer Lawrence) has already had her car repossessed (it didn’t help that an aggrieved ex-boyfriend worked for the debt collection agency). And now she’s on the brink of losing her beloved home, a chocolate-box cottage on the Montauk coast that she inherited from her late mother. Then she spots a Craigslist advert – a wealthy couple seek a young woman to take their socially maladroit 19-year-old son in hand (as it were), teaching him the ways of the world before he heads to Princeton. It’s the kind of premise that seems more in tune with a certain kind of crass, oversexed 80s teen comedy than with contemporary cinematic mores. But the generational disconnect and the toe-curling awkwardness of 32-year-old Maddie’s seduction assault on poor, terrified Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman, all elbows and uncertainty) are rather the point of this sporadically amusing but instantly forgettable romp. The unstoppable force of Lawrence’s charisma notwithstanding, this is not so much tasteless, just a bit bland.

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‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’ Review: A Lonely Avenger

The fifth installment of George Miller’s series delivers an origin story of Furiosa, the hard-bitten driver played here by Anya Taylor-Joy.

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By Manohla Dargis

Dystopia has rarely looked as grim and felt as exhilarating as it has in George Miller’s “Mad Max” cycle. For decades, Miller has been wowing viewers with hallucinatory images of a ravaged, violent world that looks enough like ours to generate shivers of recognition. Yet however familiar his alternative universe can seem — feel — his filmmaking creates such a strong contact high that it’s always been easy to simply bliss out on the sheer spectacle of it all. Apocalypse? Cool!

The thing is, it has started to feel less cool just because in the years since the original “Mad Max” opened in 1979, the distance between Miller’s scorched earth and ours has narrowed. Set “a few years from now,” the first film tracks Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson), a highway patrol cop who has a semblance of a normal life with a wife and kid. That things are about to go to hell for Max is obvious in the opening shot of a sign for the Hall of Justice, an entry that evokes the gate at Auschwitz (“Work Sets You Free”). You may have flinched if you made that association, but whatever qualms you had were soon swept away by the ensuing chases and crashes, the gunning engines and mad laughter.

Miller’s latest and fifth movie in the cycle, “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” is primarily an origin story that recounts the life and brutal, dehumanizing times of the young Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy), the hard-bitten rig driver played by Charlize Theron in the last film, “ Mad Max: Fury Road ” (2015). Miller’s magnum opus, “Fury Road” is at once the apotheosis of his cinematic genius — it’s one of the great movies of the last decade — and a departure narratively and tonally from the previous films. In “Fury,” Max still serves as the nominal headliner (with Tom Hardy taking over for Gibson), but the movie’s dramatic and emotional weight rests on Furiosa, her quest and her hopes.

As befits a creation story, “Furiosa” tracks Furiosa from childhood to young adulthood, a downward spiral that takes her from freedom to captivity and, in time, circumscribed sovereignty. It opens with the 10-year-old Furiosa (Alyla Browne) foraging in a forest close to a paradisiacal outpost called the Green Place of Many Mothers. Just as she’s reaching for an amusingly, metaphorically ripe peach, her idyll is cut short by a gang of snaggletooth, hygiene-challenged bikers. They’re soon rocketing across the desert with Furiosa tied up on one of their bikes, with her mother (Charlee Fraser) and another woman in pursuit on horseback, a chase that presages the fight for power and bodies which follows.

The chase grows exponentially tenser as Miller begins shifting between close-ups and expansive long shots, the raucous noise and energy of the kidnappers on their hell machines working contrapuntally against the desert’s stillness. While the scene’s arid landscape conjures up past “Mad Max” adventures, the buttes and the galloping horse evoke the classic westerns from which this series has drawn some of its mythopoetic force. Max has often seemed like a Hollywood gunslinger (or samurai) transplanted into Miller’s feverish imagination with some notes from Joseph Campbell. The minute Furiosa starts gnawing on her captor’s fuel line, though, Miller makes it clear that this wee captive is no damsel in distress.

Furiosa’s odyssey takes a turn for the more ominous when she’s delivered to the bikers’ ruler, Warlord Dementus (a vamping Chris Hemsworth), a voluble show-boater who oversees a gaggle of largely male nomads. Wearing a billowing white cape, Dementus travels in a chariot drawn by motorcycles and keeps a scholar by his side. He’s a ridiculous figure, and Miller and Hemsworth lean into the character’s absurdity with a physical presentation that is as outlandish as Dementus’s pomposity and (prosthetic) nose. It’s hard not to wonder if Miller drew inspiration for the character from both Charlton Heston’s heroic champion and the Arab sheikh in the 1959 epic “Ben-Hur,” a very different desert saga.

The power of the “Mad Max” movies partly derives from how Miller supercharges the kinds of stories that are passed from family to family, tribe to tribe, culture to culture, the ones that are embedded in our heads and chart our paths, whether we know it or not. Yet while Miller is a modern mythmaker, he remains tethered to the world — the machinations and conflagrations in the movies at times queasily mirror our own — and it’s worth noting that he’s also a physician. (He was the set doctor on some “Max” movies.) His background helps explain, I think, his attention to the human body, most obviously in the flamboyant stunt work that has become a series trademark, and his delight in showing the whirring parts of bodies, machines and ecosystems — how they work .

Furiosa’s own body is very much at the center of this movie, which shifts directions when, after some power plays and narrative busywork, she lands in the Citadel, the heavily guarded fortress the character fled in “Fury Road.” There, she is herded with some cloistered young women, handmaidens whose sole function is to bear children for Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme), the Citadel’s leader. It’s also there that Furiosa, still a child (and still played by Browne), catches the eye of one of Immortan Joe’s spawn, a hulking predator whose designs on her jolt the story into a different, unsettling register. Miller, smartly, doesn’t overplay this section — and Furiosa evades this creep — but it’s still a shock to the system.

The shock lingers, and darkens the story precipitously. To survive, Furiosa escapes her would-be molester by obscuring her identity and joining the ranks of the Citadel’s chattel workers. She melts into the crowd, and years pass as the scenes blend together and a determined, sympathetic Taylor-Joy steps into the role. There’s more, lots and lots: Furiosa shaves her head and finds a mentor in a driver, Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke, the louche heartbreaker in Joanna Hogg’s “The Souvenir”). Together they and armies of minions journey to hot spots like the Bullet Farm, where Miller dazzles you with his customary pyrotechnics as he finesses the pieces — Immortan Joe and Dementus included — into place.

It takes a while to get used to Taylor-Joy as Furiosa, partly because Theron originated the character with such a distinct mixture of raw anger and deep-boned melancholy. Theron also looked like she could kick everyone’s butt in “Fury Road”; she more or less kicked Max’s, at least metaphorically by becoming the series’ new totem. Taylor-Joy doesn’t (yet) have her predecessor’s physical expressiveness, but like Theron, she trained as a ballet dancer and moves beautifully, with the kind of unforced gracefulness that suggests she can easily slip out of any difficulty. Taylor-Joy’s Furiosa may look too physically slight to handle the Armageddon, but that sense of vulnerability of course serves the story.

My guess is that Miller chose Taylor-Joy as his new Furiosa in part because of the actress’s large, wide-set eyes. They’re enormous; they’re also mesmerizing. They lock your own gaze down, commanding your attention, never more so than when the actress is looking up with her head bowed. It’s an angle that accentuates the whites of her eyes, which shine especially bright in the Citadel’s sepulchral lighting. (Jack Nicholson perfected this menacing technique in “The Shining,” which is why it’s called the Kubrick Stare.) The effect can be greatly destabilizing, creating uncertainty about the character and what kind of hero she’ll prove to be.

Furiosa’s reticence is strategic, as well as a trait she shares with Mad Max himself, the model for her taciturn avenger. While Furiosa is hiding in plain sight in the Citadel, her circumspection protects her, but it also accentuates her existential plight. She’s alone, spiritually and in every other respect, at least before meeting Praetorian Jack (not that they’re chatty). Hers is a lonely burden and, as the story and the fighting continue, it gives “Furiosa” a surprising emotional heaviness which can make this exciting, kinetic movie feel terribly sad.

Scene for scene, “Furiosa” is very much a complement to “Fury Road,” yet the new movie never fully pops the way the earlier one does. As it turns out, it is one thing to watch a movie about warriors high-tailing it out of Dodge on the road to nowhere. It’s something else entirely to watch a woman struggle to survive a world that eats its young and everyone else, too. Miller is such a wildly inventive filmmaker that it’s been easy to forget that he keeps making movies about the end of life as we know it. It’s a blast watching his characters fight over oil, water and women, yet while I’ve long thought of him as a great filmmaker it’s only with “Furiosa” that I now understand he’s also one kick-ass prophet of doom.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga Rated R for dystopian violence and intimations of child predation. Running time: 2 hours 28 minutes. In theaters.

Manohla Dargis is the chief film critic for The Times. More about Manohla Dargis

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