Cultural pessimists could certainly point out a number of points that the contemporary film landscape is lacking. But if you ask the author of these lines what is simply not enough today, then it is brutal comedies with the heart in the right place. The times when, for example, the Farrelly brothers (“Crazy About Mary”) celebrated great successes are a thing of the past.
Although that is not entirely true, because Gene Stupnitsky disagrees! Not only did he deliver one of the funniest and most endearing comedies of recent years with ‘Good Boys’, his ‘No Hard Feelings’ also revives the spirit of the Farrellys. Missed the comedy on the big screen? Then you can watch Netflix today, six months after its theatrical release!
That’s what ‘No Hard Feelings’ is about
32-year-old Uber driver Maddie (Jennifer Lawrence) is plagued by bad luck. After her car was seized, she is now threatened with losing her parents’ house. To get some money as quickly as possible, she accepts a tempting job offer on Craigslist: wealthy helicopter parents Allison and Laird (Matthew Broderick and Laura Benanti) offer a car in exchange for Maddie driving her son Percy (Andrw Barth Feldman). goes on a “date”.
And the quotes are no coincidence, because Allison and Laird actually want their son to gain experience with a woman before attending Princeton. So Maddie tries to seduce the teen in the best way possible. But despite her ambitious attempts to loosen up Percy with a little alcohol, the task proves quite difficult…
Jennifer Lawrence is a stunner
In the official FILMSTARTS review, “No Hard Feelings” received a solid 3 out of 5 possible stars. In his conclusion, our author Sidney Schering writes: “Jennifer Lawrence as the love-starved teenage hunter and Andrew Feldman as her frightened object of desire are great fun – but if no heads are turned or baskets are distributed, there is a lot of wasted time.”
Yes, “No Hard Feelings” is not a complete success, but for the excellent chemistry between the two leads alone, it is definitely worth checking out. Especially if you know Jennifer Lawrence mainly from more serious roles (such as in the ‘Hunger Games’ franchise), you can see for yourself here that how wonderfully the popular actress fits into the comedy genre thanks to her fearless physical enthusiasm.