As deep as Jennifer Lawrence’s filmography is, No Hard Feelings is her first chance to lead a true comedy. The closest before this would be 2021’s Don’t Look Up. But that had several other goals other than “let’s just make people laugh.” I didn’t really like the movie but thought she was good (to be fair, has she ever not been good?). She’s nailed it when given the chance to be funny in other movies. And she comes across as a legitimately funny person in real life. It’s about time she got a movie like this. And she absolutely rocks it. But how does everything else come together?
The Plot
Maddie (Lawrence) is on the verge of losing her childhood home. She has thousands of dollars of unpaid property taxes due, and she’s trying to make ends meet, splitting time as a bartender and Uber driver. But when her car is repossessed, she loses her best source of income. She’s feeling hopeless until she sees an interesting Craigslist posting.
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Laird (Matthew Broderick) and Allison (Laura Benanti) are concerned about their 19-year-old son Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman) as he prepares to start college at Princeton in the fall. He’s shy, introverted, and rarely even leaves his room. They’re worried he won’t be able to adapt to college life and that things will only get worse. Their job proposition? Hire someone to “date” him for the summer (yes, both date and “date”), hopefully bringing him out of his shell. In exchange for doing this, they offer a car as payment. Though hesitant at first, Maddie takes the job.
The Critique
Like I said off the top, Lawrence is terrific. She’s always felt suited to this kind of movie, and she’s a perfect fit for this role. Her comedic timing is great, and she can create chemistry with anyone. But she gets a chance to flex her dramatic acting muscles too. There’s a backstory to her house situation which adds an impactful emotional element that many similar movies wouldn’t include. As expected for someone of her talent, she nails this too. But one great performance does not a great movie make.
Thankfully she has a strong co-lead to play off of. Her counterpart, Feldman, is a relative newcomer. He achieved national recognition playing Frank Abagnale Jr in his high school’s production of Catch Me If You Can and played the lead in Dear Evan Hansen on Broadway, along with other theater and stage experience. While not his film debut, No Hard Feelings is his first time in the spotlight on the big screen. And he impressively matches Lawrence every step of the way.
It helps having someone like Lawrence to work alongside, but he’s not just riding her coattails here. He takes full control of Percy, playing the shy, nervous kid to perfection. There are several instances where he gives little glances or pulls away from touch that come off so naturally. Like Lawrence, Feldman also gets to show off the dramatic side of his skills. The two of them together are the highlight of the movie.
That being said, the individual scenes tend to work better than the movie as a whole. The funny bits mostly work. The jokes come at a steady clip, with more hits than misses. But they’re mostly singles and doubles, with no home runs, no big laugh-out-loud moments. The dramatic parts work too. With Maddie’s motivation and Percy’s personal struggles, there’s some real heart here.
But there’s something missing when you combine it all together. It feels like the movie was made twice, once as a pure comedy and once as a pure drama. Then the best parts of each were clipped and edited together to give us No Hard Feelings. The flow between the two sides is almost entirely non-existent. It’s a shame they don’t vibe more, as both have some truly great moments to offer.
Then there’s the story itself. If you’re a little uncomfortable with the pairing of 32-year-old Maddie with 19-year-old Percy, I don’t blame you. Overall, though, it’s handled pretty well. There are some instances of real tenderness from Maddie to Percy. But that’s not the problem. The problem is how predictable the story is. As soon as you know the setup, you can plot this thing out yourself, beat by beat.
Predictability is not inherently a bad thing. Heck, the entire romantic comedy genre is partially built on predictability and the comfort it offers. But No Hard Feelings doesn’t aspire to be a classic rom-com. It has to throw a surprise or two to the audience. Even American Pie threw us for a loop with Michelle’s characterization. It doesn’t have to be anything big. Just give us something. Without that, It lowers the ceiling of how good it can be when you can see every development coming from a mile away.
In Conclusion
In a movie landscape that’s been severely lacking in comedies lately, No Hard Feelings will help scratch that itch for audiences looking for a fix. It won’t be the funniest comedy this year (that honor currently goes to Joy Ride, out July 7th). But it offers plenty of laughs and is buoyed by heartfelt performances from Jennifer Lawrence and Andrew Barth Feldman. Even though the comedic and dramatic elements don’t always mesh, their chemistry carries it through most of the rough patches.
7/10
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