No Hard Feelings (2023)

Written by CinemaSerf on July 21, 2023

OK, so the underlying premiss here is pretty daft. The "Becker" parents - Matthew Broderick and Laura Benanti are concerned that their teenage son "Percy" (Andrew Barth Feldman) is just a little bit shy, and so they are seeking a willing gal to help get him out of his bedroom. Meantime, "Maddie" (Jennifer Lawrence) is struggling to make ends meet as an Uber driver with only a pair of roller-skates to her name. She spots their ad, they meet and next thing she is chatting to the young man who volunteers at an animal sanctuary. He thinks she's weird, she thinks he's weird - but she needs a car, and that's her prize if she can get him laid! That's what works about this film: right from the double entendres of the title, it's a sex comedy that doesn't actually shy away from nudity (albeit sparing) and from the fact that the parental goal here involves their son and cherries - and not those in bowl. Lawrence is on good form and she brings out the best in Feldman who is also quite effective as the scared-of-his-own shadow young man who would rather seek the comfort of four legged friends than people. It moves along quickly, the writing is enjoyably earthy at times, there are some fun, lightly comedic scenes and though no, there isn't really a lot of jeopardy to the plot, it's surprisingly easy to watch. It also can't but elicit our own memories of being a cack-handed teenager with raging hormones that we didn't understand nor know how to control. A fun soundtrack and I found it flew by. Television will be fine, though, no need to shall out for a ticket.