No Hard Feelings

⭐️ ⭐️ (out of 5)

From The Graduate to Weird Science to Risky Business, the teenage nerd sexual awakening film is not new to Hollywood. Yet, this is a different era for this familiar genre, as the awareness of consent and storylines that emulate grooming are a harder sell to modern audiences. Yet, this hasn’t stopped these productions from being made and pushing the boundaries of this new world of taste and sexual ethics. Then to have an Academy Award winner attached to a project of this ilk could raise the expectation that this might be different or contain some underlying message worth considering.

Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Lining Playbook) not only stars in this quirky film of sexual enlightenment but also has a producer role. The Hunger Games actress plays an Uber driver/bartender named Maddie, who has been taken to the edge of bankruptcy with the repossession of her car. Desperate, she accepts an offer from a wealthy couple trying to encourage their 19-year-old son to come out of his shell. Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman) is about to head off to Princeton for university, and he doesn’t have much of a social life beyond his online gaming community. The teen’s parents want Maddie to secretly do all she can to date, seduce their son and help him enter adulthood with a new perspective on life. If she fulfills this obligation, they will provide her with a car, and she can return to earning a living. This proposal sounds easy enough, but no one could predict how this agreement would affect them during the summer.

What seems like every teenage boy’s dream does play for laughs until the realities of this world hit you in the face. Granted, Percy is of legal age, but if they were to have flipped the script and had a 30+ year old man sexually pursuing a 19-year-old girl so he could own a car, there would be protests all over social media. Since this film has elements related to many of the films of the 1980s when there would be less pushback, director/writer Gene Stupnitsky (Good Boys) might need a reminder that this is 2023. Many of the jokes that would have landed in earlier decades only garner uncomfortable chuffs through the crowd. Not to say that there aren’t a few laugh-out-loud moments, but they fail to outweigh the noticeable unease.

Not that there weren’t some endearing scenes, and Andrew Barth Feldman has some singing chops. (His Maneater scene is the best part of the film.) Lawrence and Feldman have a chemistry reminiscent of a teacher/student scenario, providing some heartfelt scenarios. Throughout the storyline, there are warnings from friends and bystanders about the obvious creepiness factor of their relationship. Also, the statement of this generation's obsession with social media and mobile phones does hit the mark. Yet, the life lessons for both lead characters are predictable but provide a brief lift to the multitude of uncomfortable scenes. There are moments that include full-frontal nudity from Lawrence and Feldman splayed naked across the bonnet of a car as they raced down the road.

For all the brighter moments in No Hard Feelings, each is counterbalanced with numerous distasteful elements that make this a less-than-appealing film. Yet, it will draw in all who need comedies to contain enough f-bombs to make Deadpool blush and sexually explicit material masked as a weak statement of female empowerment. Not sure what Jennifer Lawrence was thinking, but this wasn't one of her best career choices.

Reel Dialogue: Where do you draw the line?

Here is the article I wrote a few years back on how to determine where you draw the line with films. Tell us what you think.

Drawing the Line: How do you choose to watch a film?

If you want to discuss discernment and God, contact us at Third Space. We would love to chat about this and more.