No Hard Feelings - Review

Rating: 3 out of 5

AS TONALLY awkward as its premise, No Hard Feelings is an odd choice of star vehicle for Jennifer Lawrence - but one that she still manages to pull off with typical style.

The Oscar winning actress plays Maddie, a 30-something loner who has fallen on hard times, who decides to accept the offer of a free car if she can 'date' and deflower the intensely shy, virginal 19-year-old son of a wealthy couple, Laird (Matthew Broderick) and Allison (Laura Benanti).

The teen in question, Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman), is a brilliant but sensitive musician, who is headed to Princeton in the coming Autumn. But his parents worry that without the necessary experience of life [and love], college is going to prove too traumatic for him.

What ensues is part R-rated sex comedy in the American Pie/Risky Business tradition, mixed with something a little more socially aware and heartfelt. It's during the latter moments that you can see what attracted Lawrence to the part.

Her Maddie is, for starters, a more forthright character than mere femme fatale, displaying a keen mix of sass and vulnerability. She's brazen but equally melancholy and Lawrence delivers both in suitably convincing fashion.

It's through her that the film makes its best social observations, whether commenting on the proliferation of arrogant tourists who are pricing locals out of her neighbourhood, or examining gender politics in the modern age.

She also constructs a suitably winning central relationship with Feldman, who does awkward very well, yet eventually proves more than capable of holding his own against Lawrence's force of nature.

There are notable scenes between them, including a crowd-pleasing piano moment in a restaurant, that Feldman delivers with aplomb, and a much talked about naked beach fight, which sees Lawrence fearlessly taking down the bullies who have stolen her clothes.

Elsewhere, the film isn't quite so successful in delivering fully rounded characters or notable commentary, with one party scene taking aim at cancel culture and wokeness in cringe-inducing fashion.

Broderick and Benanti also strike false notes as Feldman's parents, as do Scott MacArthur and Natalie Morales as Maddie's best friends.

The overall result is a film that veers wildly between tones with the type of hit-and-miss ratio that could be expected as a result. It's worth watching, ultimately, for Lawrence and Feldman - but it won't stay with you for too long afterwards.

In other words, it's amiable enough not to leave too many hard feelings about having to sit through it.