No Hard Feelings (15)

Dir: Gene Stupnitsky

Jennifer Lawrence and Andrew Barth Feldman bring a surprising amount of heart to this adult comedy, but not enough laughs.

Back in the 2000’s and early 2010’s, the adult ‘sex’ comedy was a thriving genre. With the likes of Sex Drive, Superbad and the long running American Pie franchise being released, audiences could not get enough of watching awkward teenagers and adults being put into uncomfortable ‘adult’ situations. It seems these days however, the ‘sex’ comedy is a dying genre, with releases being few and far between.

The latest attempt to revive the genre comes from Gene Stupnitsky, the writer-director of the decent, but not great, 2019 coming-of-age comedy Good Boys. The premise of the film is very similar to the 2006 rom-com Failure to Launch, starring Matthew McConaughey and Sarah Jessica Parker. In ‘Failure to Launch’, Sarah Jessica Parker’s character, Paula, is hired to ‘seduce’ and get to know Tripp, a 35-year old man who still lives at home. The plan is to have all of his attachments and dependencies on his parents be transferred to Paula, forcing him to mature and move out. ‘No Hard Feelings‘ has a similar plot but instead of a 35-year old man, it is a 19-year old boy, who is about to go to Princeton.

Maddie (Jennifer Lawrence) is an Uber driver in Montauk, and after her car is repossessed, she is left in dire straits financially. Whilst searching for a job on Craig’s list, she stumbles upon one that pays with a car, allowing her to continue to be an Uber driver as a source of income. The job listing is placed by a well-to-do couple (Matthew Broderick and Laura Benanti), who are offering their car to any ‘young’ woman who is willing to date their nerdy, anti-social son Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman). The parents believe that Percy needs some genuine life experiences before he goes to study at Princeton, otherwise the other students will eat him alive.

Out of sheer desperation for the car, Maddie immediately commits to the task at hand. She chooses to see it as just another of her many one night stands – but this time she gets a car out of it. A persistent Maddie, continuously tries to seduce Percy with no success, as there is an obvious contrast between the two characters. Maddie is a bold, attractive woman but is a little goofy in her efforts of seduction. Percy on the other hand is awkward, apprehensive and completely oblivious at the incredibly fortunate situation he finds himself in.

The central arcs for the characters are dependent on their chemistry and bonded fear of the unknown. Maddie has never left Montauk, something she is constantly ridiculed for, and Percy knows nothing outside his pampered life with his parents. This budding relationship between the two leads is ultimately the films strongest aspect. On one of their several swanky dates, Percy plays a piano rendition of ‘Maneater‘ by Hall & Oates that visually gets an emotional response from Maddie, which had me surprisingly invested in their companionship.

These more emotional beats of the film are astonishingly superior to the outlandish comedic punches that are constantly thrown at you. The film tries it’s best to be absurd and offensive, one scene in particular has a completely naked Maddie beat up three teenage punks on the beach. The majority of the time however, these comedic set pieces fall worryingly flat. These wannabe shock-value moments are poorly paced and staged by Stupnitsky, they either seem to meet an abrupt end without any build up to the eventual punch line, or they seem to drag to a point that is passed the zone of comfort.

Jennifer Lawrence is the highlight here, she embodies Maddie perfectly and fully commits to the role – and I mean commit. It is good to see her try and show off her comedic chops rather than her many dramatic roles, as by all accounts she is very funny in person. Her chemistry with Feldman is what ultimately got me through the film.

‘No Hard Feelings’ seems like a missed opportunity. There is a decent coming-of-age story in here somewhere, but all of that is overshadowed by the poorly executed attempts of risqué humour. It was refreshing to see Jennifer Lawrence act out of her comfort zone, and with better comedic material I am sure she could break into the genre with ease.

No Hard Feelings is now showing in Cinemas