TL;DR – While I appreciate that it is trying to have something to say about class relations and Jennifer Lawrence’s physical comedy chops, the narrative just didn’t land for me.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid to see this film.

No Hard Feelings Review –

Comedy films directed only at adults can be a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, they can go to extremes that you just can’t do in more family fair. However, it can just be an excuse to hit below the most common denominator. If you will be crass, you need to be at least thoughtful about it. Today we are looking at a film that is at least trying the latter.

So to set the scene, Maddie Barker (Jennifer Lawrence) is an Uber driver and waitress in the summer holiday town of Montauk, New York. While she lives in the house bought by her mother, she can’t afford the property tax that has dramatically excecated as all the rich people from New York come to buy summer homes. After having her car towed, her primary source of income, she is lost with what to do until she sees an ad in the paper. Laird (Matthew Broderick) and Allison Becker (Laura Benanti) are concerned about their son Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman), who is primarily a recluse. Percy is going to Princeton next year, and they fear he will not survive. So, they are paying Maddie with a car to “Date” their son and get him out of his shell.

First, I will say that it is great to see Jennifer Lawrence back in the comedy space because she has incredible comedic timing. You see this most in the more physical comedic moments, as she makes the most of every rollerblade scene. You need the emotional strength and range of Jennifer to make this work. It is good that Andrew Barth Feldman has the comedic chops to play off her in all their scenes, which is something the film desperately needs to work on. I liked that they made him a nice guy, not a nice guy. Their bond is the heart of the film. It is also the source of a lot of sadness and uncomfortableness.

I also liked that No Hard Feelings did what many competitors didn’t. It actually had something to say about society at the moment. For all the talk of this being a sex romp comedy, and that is there, this wants to talk about how people are being priced out of their own communities. There is tension between the locals and the tourists that are usurping the town that feels very current in the world today. For all the talk of the nude fight scene and car chase, this part of the film was the most interesting for me.

However, while I appreciate that they were attempting to discuss these issues, it didn’t work as well as it could have. The narrative is also very much a gender-swapped Taming of the Shrew, and it felt limited because of that because, from the start, you know entirely how the film will end. Many tonal dissonances also took you away from the narrative, and many comedic moments didn’t land.

In the end, do we recommend No Hard Feelings? Well, look. This is a very adult comedy, and that will be off-putting for many people. It is also not as much of a comedy as I think people will like, and its commentary does not land as well as it could. If you liked No Hard Feelings, we would recommend 10 Things I Hate About You.     

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of No Hard Feelings
Directed by – Gene Stupnitsky
Written by – Gene Stupnitsky & John Phillips
Music by – Mychael Danna & Jessica Rose Weiss
Cinematography by – Eigil Bryld
Edited by – Brent White
Production/Distribution Companies – Columbia Pictures, Saks Picture Company, Odenkirk Provissiero Entertainment, Excellent Cadaver & Sony Pictures
Starring – Jennifer Lawrence, Andrew Barth Feldman, Matthew Broderick, Laura Benanti, Natalie Morales, Scott MacArthur, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Hasan Minhaj & Kyle Mooney
Rating – Australia: MA15+; Canada: 14A; Germany: 12; New Zealand: R; United Kingdom: 15; United States: R