In the current landscape, the sex comedy can be tricky terrain for even the most cautious or conscientious film-maker. Certainly, a movie in which a 32-year-old man agrees to seduce a 19-year-old girl for material gain would raise eyebrows, but is the premise any more acceptable when the genders are reversed?<\/p>\n
As No Hard Feelings opens, cash-strapped good-time gal Maddie (Jennifer Lawrence)
Alerted to an online ad from a wealthy middle-aged couple looking for someone to \u201cdate\u201d their Princeton-bound introvert son in return for a shiny new saloon, Maddie sees a solution to her problems.<\/p>\n
On meeting the concerned helicopter parents, it\u2019s quickly established that their coy use of the D-word translates as going all the way and taking the virginity of young Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman in his first leading role), and at no point should he learn Maddie is a deflowerer for hire. How\u2019s that for a flag to an inventively-staged reveal later in the narrative?<\/p>\n
![\""Jennifer\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/06\/no-hard-feelings-jennifer-lawrence-628eb3f.jpeg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"Jennifer\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Inevitably, not all goes according to plan, and the pair\u2019s first few rendezvous are beset with hiccups and hurdles, ranging from laugh-out-loud cartoon violence to genuinely touching interludes and the blossoming of an unlikely friendship.<\/p>\n
In the latter respect, the script, co-written by director Gene Stupnitsky, aims to pivot from broad humour to a reflective coming-of-age story where both leads learn more about themselves.<\/p>\n
The lazy innuendo of the film\u2019s title doesn\u2019t do it any favours, nor does the fact Feldman looks considerably younger than 19, but there are at least attempts, albeit brief ones, to question the morality of Maddie\u2019s task.<\/p>\n
She seeks the counsel of her best friends (strong, wisecracking support from Natalie Morales and Scott MacArthur), but ultimately decides reward trumps any reticence she might harbour.<\/p>
Stupnitsky has previous form for seemingly shallow (anti-)heroines, his screenplay for 2011\u2019s Bad Teacher casting Cameron Diaz as a manipulative educator employing fair means or foul to raise money for breast enlargement surgery.<\/p>\n
Here, however, the protagonist is arguably less mercenary, but it\u2019s to Lawrence\u2019s credit her character sidesteps tart-with-a-heart-of-gold clich\u00e9s.<\/p>\n
The four-time Oscar nominee, in her first headlining out-and-out comedy role, gives raunchy Maddie a grounding and substance the likes of, say, Amy Schumer (to whom Lawrence bears a passing resemblance) might struggle to achieve.<\/p>\n
Her pithy putdowns in exchanges with boorish former beaus are a delight, she attacks the physicality of pratfalls with aplomb, then leavens the plot with thoughtful, dramatic reserve.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s matched most of the way by Feldman as the naive Percy, achingly funny when startled by the clattering of balls on a pool table or taking his first sip of alcohol, and heartbreakingly vulnerable as he sings a piano-ballad arrangement of the upbeat 1980s Hall & Oates hit Maneater (an unexpected showstopper).<\/p>\n
![\""Andrew\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/06\/no-hard-feelings-jennifer-lawrence-andrew-barth-feldman-59bcc63.jpeg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"Andrew\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>It\u2019s the innate likeability of both leads that prevents No Hard Feelings from coming across as just a run-of-the-mill romp with not enough top-drawer gags and a dubious starting point.<\/p>\n
In fairness to Stupnitsky, there are wider efforts to examine political incorrectness, but the sequence where Maddie is chased by phone-wielding, youthful TikTok-ers who angrily interpret an off-the-cuff insult as blatant homophobia flashes by in an instant.<\/p>\n
Similarly, the film\u2019s only nude scene, with skinny-dipping Maddie beating up a trio of teens who\u2019ve stolen her and Percy\u2019s clothes, is resolutely not played for titillation.<\/p>\n
Read more RadioTimes.com<\/a> reviews:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n As motivational tools go, the suggestion Maddie, born and raised in the coastal haven of Montauk, Long Island, only embraces desperate measures to pay her way because rich summer visitors are forcing blue-collar locals out of the property market isn\u2019t especially solid. It has intermittent value in setting up comic friction between the haves and have-nots, but it\u2019s social commentary at its most undercooked and woolliest.<\/p>\n The briefest synopsis of the film, in tandem with its title, could be enough to dissuade some cinemagoers from giving it a try, regardless of the attraction of across-the-board quality performances (Matthew Broderick\u2019s slightly creepy turn as Percy\u2019s dad also warrants a shout-out).<\/p>\n But whatever ethical debates it may or may not spark, it\u2019s nonetheless a neatly constructed off-piste romcom whose potential misgivings are at least partially redressed by a rich helping of charm.<\/p>\n