I miss raunchy, laugh out loud comedies like "Bridesmaids" and "The Hangover". Jennifer Lawrence admirably gives her all to deliver the dirt in NO HARD FEELINGS.
Maddie Barker (Lawrence) is a part-time bartender/Uber driver more devoted to having a good time than paying her bills.
On the verge of losing her family home due to past due property taxes, Maddie answers an ad from a wealthy couple to "date" their sheltered son and earn a Buick. "I'll date his brains out!"
Percy Becker (the outstanding Andrew Barth Feldman) is socially awkward, painfully shy and about to leave for college.
Maddie starts off seeing this as a pure business transaction, but the more she gets to know Percy, the tougher a quick approach becomes.
Lawrence is hilarious as a Townie that hates the rich summer people, swears like a sailor and holds no punches if you happen to steal her clothes at the beach. "Isn't this how Jaws started?"
She scares the hell out of Percy while making us belly laugh. She's a gifted physical comedienne as well.
Broadway veterans Matthew Broderick and Laura Benanti are flawless as Percy's helicopter parents, throwing money at every situation instead of common sense.
Natalie Morales (Parks and Recreation) and Scott MacArthur (Halloween Kills) deliver big laughs as Sara and Jim, a married couple that are Maddie's best friends. The one liners Sara slams Jim with are priceless.
Lawrence treads a careful line here, creating Maddie in a tone that's broadly comic, earning huge laughs, but also slowly filling in her backstory to become a three dimensional character in the last half hour of the film.
With wall-to-wall profanity and full frontal nudity, this one isn't for the kids or the sensitive. It's about time. Every once in awhile, you want to leave PG-13 behind and delve into some no holds barred fun.
NO HARD FEELINGS delivers on that front.
Lawrence has said that she compares working with Feldman to her work with Christian Bale, as Feldman shares the same rare gift for improvisation on screen. I don't know how the cast kept from laughing during many of the scenes as they bounce fast-paced, crude humor back and forth.
Lawrence has said this is the most fun she's ever had making a film. Luckily for us, that comes across in her performance.
Bashing sexual cliches and blazing with chemistry between the two leads, NO HARD FEELINGS is a vulgar, funny romp that softens up a bit too much for my taste in its final act, but still romps its way to a B.
R-RATED Red-Band Trailer below.
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