Amid so many huge summer blockbusters, this film isn’t getting the attention that INDIANA JONES, ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE, and the BARBIE movie are. The trailer doesn’t help. It comes across like another teen sex romp in the vein of SUPERBAD or AMERICAN PIE. But then there’s 4-time Oscar nominee and 1-time winner Jennifer Lawrence as the star; because of this, we should expect more. NO HARD FEELINGS absolutely delivers on that “more.” It’s a charming and poignant tale about growing up, letting go, and listening to our instincts. But it’s also risqué and, at times, downright crude. Oh, and did I mention, it’s also absolutely hilarious?
Before seeing this movie, I mostly knew about it via social media complaints from people who hadn’t seen it. It was accused of celebrating “grooming,” sex work, inappropriate age-gap relationships, and even of erasing asexuality. NO HARD FEELINGS seems to have known people would say these things and takes opportunities to cover all the bases. Also, there’s nothing wrong with celebrating sex work. If anything, we should be working to demystify that. My biggest critique is that the film feels the need to have Maddie (Lawrence) redeemed when she really doesn’t need to be. She took a job and followed through on it. Case closed.
32-year-old Maddie and 19-year-old Percy’s (Andrew Barth Feldman) unexpected friendship is funny, tender, and relatable. Even though Maddie is well into adulthood, she’s still experiencing a strong case of arrested development. It isn’t that she doesn’t want to mature; she’s holding onto loss and trauma that’s made her feel stuck and like she has no path forward. Through their unexpected friendship, Maddie and Percy grow on their own through what they learn together. NO HARD FEELINGS has the DNA of an indie film far more than it has in common with the raunchy blockbusters I mentioned early in this review. But this is a sex comedy, so if you’re hoping for lots of f-bombs and nudity, you won’t be disappointed either.
NO HARD FEELINGS is currently in theatres nationwide.
