Rare is the out-and-out sex comedy these days, and NO HARD FEELINGS is just that. The movie is an unabashedly bawdy film whose plot concerns the efforts of a 32-year-old woman to take the virginity of a nerdy college-bound freshman. Molded into the style of dirty, off-kilter hits like THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY and SUPER BAD, this oddly, eccentric effort succeeds mostly due to the full throttled and committed performance of lead Jennifer Lawrence. Lawrence is a skilled dramatic actress, but she’s also an inspired comic who knows how to deliver a sarcastic line or showcase a pratfall for maximum effect. And in this film, she is an absolute hoot.
The story is an eyebrow-raiser even in our OnlyFans era. Lawrence plays Maddie Barker, an aging good-time girl in Montauk, looking for purpose in life. She’s living in the home she inherited from her deceased mom, and it’s paid for, but she can’t make the property tax payments with her part-time gig as an Uber driver. Then her car is repossessed as punishment and the government threatens to take away her house too. The desperate Maddie turns to Craig’s List where she finds a help wanted ad that just might be the answer to her prayers.
The Beckers, (Matthew Broderick and Laura Benanti) a wealthy couple with a summer home in Montauk, are looking for a young woman to ‘date’ their nerdy son Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman). They worry he’ll start his freshman year at Princeton as a complete naïf without some real-world experience so they’re advertising for a 20something local to ‘date him’ and yes, pop his cherry as well. The reward is a new car so Maddie, even though she’s over 30, goes for it. What’s a little sex work when you’re already enjoying trysting with the locals, right?
The rest of the movie showcases scene after scene of Maddie pretending to like Percy hoping to get him to come across, starting with a raucous ‘meet’ at the animal shelter where he works part-time. Percy is slight, shy, and uncomfortable around the opposite sex, so Maddie definitely has her work cut out for her. She comes on strong, trying to bed him as quickly as possible, but he’s either clueless and/or cowardly and their attempts at hooking up fail again and again. Much of the naughty humor comes from this odd couple’s various attempts to connect in a sexual way and one set piece involving their nocturnal nude swim in the ocean turns into an absolute riot. It may very well be the most talked about scene in any movie this summer season. I won’t say a word more except that the film’s two stars really give it their all.
As the story continues, Maddie and Percy become more friends than anything, and occasionally the film brushes up against overt sentimentality as these two down-on-their luck individuals find compassion with each other more than passion. Such tonal shifts can be jarring at times, especially when the mood swings broadly from one end to the other, often in the same scene. One scene that occurs at a high school friend’s party starts with a jealous Maddie searching from bedroom to bedroom for Percy to stop him from bedding a competitor. The episode begins rather seriously, showcasing a desperate and hurt Maddie, but by the end, she takes an errant punch to the throat and destroys some property with her slapstick collapse. It’s a wild end to a more muted start, and such shifts could use a little more finesse than director Gene Stupnitsky brings to the screen.
Working with the script he co-wrote with screenwriter John Phillips, Stupnitsky succeeds more in the straight-up comedic parts. He’s good at directing actors, getting impressive comic performances from his two leads, while also finding time enough for the supporting players to be vividly funny as well. Broderick and Benanti are nifty throughout as well-meaning neurotics, as are Natalie Morales, Scott MacArthur, and Ebon Moss-Bacharach as eccentric town locals. Special props to Kirston Mann for her clever costuming too, especially the way she dresses Broderick in the studied, casual way that a rich man often will to appear hip and young. I also appreciated the way she gussied up Maddie for her ‘prom date’ with Percy. Her dress looks like one of those overly sequined party frocks you’d see contestants wearing on THE BACHELOR, suggesting perhaps that such shows are Maddie’s reference point. Clever choices like that show up throughout the film and slyly counter some of the film’s crassness.
Most impressive though, when all is said and done, is the stunning Lawrence, truly something to behold from first frame to last. She throws herself into the role with utter, comedic verve: falling down, body slamming, tripping over furniture, and much, much more. It’s a fearlessly funny, physical performance. It’s also one that captures all of the snarky smarts and confidence in her own skin that she demonstrates in her memorable talk show appearances. Lawrence has never been sexier onscreen either, projecting a smokey sultriness that could stand with the best of Sharon Stone or Kathleen Turner. Additionally, it’s refreshing to see Maddie’s sexual appetite treated as evidence of her joie de vivre rather than some form of self-loathing or insecurity. NO HARD FEELINGS isn’t exactly a feminist film, but with Lawrence starring and exec-producing, she’s clearly helped steer the farce towards something fierce as well.
At times, I wished the film was shot with more precision, like Blake Edwards or Jerry Lewis did in their best films, but Stupnitsky delivers plenty of good laughs and heart to give the whole shebang a lot of sassy fun for its hour and 43 minutes. And with Lawrence top-lining it all, it’s one heckuva memorable show.
