'No Hard Feelings' Is An Outdated Comedy
No Hard Feelings is a film with a premise that belongs to another era. The story is about a girl who will do anything to get a car, even if that means giving up her body. The horny teenager who falls for an older woman is an outdated trope that doesn't belong in modern cinema unless it's trying to say something. What No Hard Feelings is trying to say is unclear if it's trying to have a message at all.
Maddie Barker (Jennifer Lawrence) will lose her mother's house that she owns unless she coughs up the money to keep it. Maddie doesn't have the means to pay off the house as she's a mid-thirties bartender and Uber driver who barely makes any money as it is. One day when going through job postings, Maddie finds an ad for rich helicopter parents seeking someone to date and have sex with their 19-year-old introverted son before he goes off to college. The request itself is bizarre. What parents would ask for someone to have sex with their kid? Compensation for the job is ownership of a car. Luckily for Maddy, a car is exactly what she needs for her Uber job. If she has to put her body up for the job, she'll do it.
Maddie has a clear character flaw—she's an irresponsible adult who wants to party and sleep around. There's a detached element to Maddie that could use some repairing. Hopefully, her young new client can show Maddie there's more to other men than just sex. Percy Becker (Andrew Barth Feldman) isn't just any ordinary kid Maddie is assigned to hook up with. He's a brilliant yet socially awkward teen who has no experience with women. Trying to seduce him will be a more difficult task than Maddie could have imagined. When the two start to have feelings for each other, things begin to feel forced. How does this woman fall for this guy? There's hardly any moments of real human connection between the two. Most of the scenes are Maddie trying to seduce Percy while Percy shies away.
Although the concept is funny, the idea is socially behind. Is a woman supposed to be an object used for a teen boy? Isn't there something wrong with that? Giving up her body for a car is something I can't say a lot of people would do. Maybe that's what makes Maddie so special. She'll do anything to get ahead. Even so, the idea of parents prostituting their young son is absurd. Understandably, the parents don't want their son to be socially awkward, but to put his sex life on display is questionable and problematic. When the issues arise, they breed trouble for the parents as Percy grows attached to Maddie. Fortunately for Percy, Maddie develops feelings for him, too, but not the same type.
The film is a situational comedy. How well the laughs work is a mixed bag. Some sequences are a blast. There's a bit involving a man's member getting stuck in a Chinese finger trap that's funny, and a scene with a naked Percy being driven around on the windshield of Maddy's car that's a riot. From the audience I saw the flick with, the reactions weren't as vibrant as they often are at other screenings. Usually, test audiences react just as they should by laughing at the correct times. This one got more chuckles than anything. I felt the same way.
There isn't much to say about No Hard Feelings, as it's not very special. It's more or less another raunchy comedy where opposites attract that leaves no lasting impact. The film's biggest problem is that its protagonist doesn't gain any insight. Does she learn that having sex with young boys is good for their maturity? If so, then bad lesson to teach your audience! When Maddie develops her feelings for Percy, it feels forced.
When the film reaches its final moments, the picture abruptly ends with Maddie learning that Percy is special. Well, whoopty doo! Anyone could learn that. Maddie is mostly the same throughout the film, making her dull to watch. She's a sociable screw-up who doesn't know how to get ahead. Thus she uses Percy to her advantage to have a car for her Uber job. When Maddie develops feelings for Percy, it feels convenient for the script but not the audience.
Jennifer Lawrence has comedic chops. She displayed them in Don't Look Up and in No Hard Feelings. Unfortunately, neither film is that good for their own reasons. In Don't Look Up, the film was a condescending, one-way political film, while No Hard Feelings is a mildly funny outdated comedy about teenage sexuality. Neither are that great despite the efforts of Jennifer Lawrence, and neither needs to be seen on the big screen to be enjoyed.
