Celebrity Measurements

Maddie (Jennifer Lawrence) must pay back taxes on her home, but as a ride-share driver, her livelihood is taken away when her car is repossessed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPgTt1BJh10

PLOT: Maddie (Jennifer Lawrence) must pay back taxes on her home, but as a ride-share driver, her livelihood is taken away from her when her car is repossessed. Thus, she answers an unusual ad, where a wealthy couple (Matthew Broderick and Laura Benanti) offers a car to anyone willing to “date” their shy son Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman), who they want to come out of his shell.REVIEW:

No Hard Feelings is half of a good, old-fashioned, raunchy sex comedy. It’s unapologetic in its premise, where Jennifer Lawrence’s Maddie will happily deflower Percy’s virginity for a free vehicle. The film’s second part is filled with sap as a concession for how controversial the premise has proven to be. Nevertheless, it has some really funny moments and an outstanding performance by Lawrence, who has real comic chops.Lawrence often gets pigeonholed in awards-bait style movies, but she nails the raunchy comedy here, delivering a pretty fearless performance. Lawrence makes some bold moves in the nude fight scene, which is a comic parody of

Eastern Promises. I can’t recall the last time that a star of her stature was willing to go to such lengths, especially in light of how conservative Hollywood has become. The movie is a sex fantasia, similar to eighties teen comedies such as My Tutor and Losin’ It

. It helps that Andrew Barth Feldman’s Percy is highly likable.

Right off the bat, it’s made clear that Percy isn’t gay, so the fact that his parents are so eager for a woman to deflower him isn’t given any homophobic shadings. He’s shy, but he likes girls. He’s not portrayed as a weirdo or an Incel. He’s a friendly kid that hasn’t broken out of his shell yet and has a nice chemistry with Lawrence. They quickly form a bond despite their disagreements over her aggressive pursuit (which he believes is too good to true). This leads to the movie spiraling into sappiness. Too much of the second half is played straight. Despite all the R-rated raunch, it’s sneakily sweet.Director Gene Stupnitsky is one of the last directors still focusing on big-screen comedy, with him having written a similar turn for Cameron Diaz in Bad Teacher and having directed the foul-mouthed Good Boys. The plot is a hot topic, but the movie does a good job of dismissing the complaints. Stupnitsky has also assembled a great supporting cast. No one is reduced to a stereotype. Even Ebon Bachrach (from The bear

), who plays Maddie’s ex, and Kyle Mooney, who plays Percy Manny, are given three-dimensionality. The former is rightfully upset about being ghosted while the latter has a good reason to doubt Maddie’s intentions. It could have been a dumber, simpler movie, but it isn’t. The two leads are very personable and if their characters weren’t so good-natured the movie wouldn’t have worked. It’s one of our best comedies in a long time, because it’s funny for at least half the running time. The genre is all but extinct. While I doubt that this will lead to the resurgence of comedy on the big screen I enjoyed it so much that I wish Hollywood would make more R-rated comedies. I miss a good laugh at the movies. Comedies are better in a crowded theater, and this should play well with audiences not too precious about the plot.

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