No Hard Feelings – REVIEW

It’s incomprehensible that this script ever got beyond its first few pages being read, let alone making it to a mainstream screen. Jennifer Lawrence’s new film, No Hard Feelings, is, to put it simply, bad. And not in a good way. 

Controversy preceded the release of the film and is ramping up now that it’s in cinemas. however, it’s quite likely the result of promotional engineering than genuine pearl-clutching because the film simply isn’t interesting enough to garner that much attention. 

Lawrence and her co-star, Andrew Barth Feldman, have been doing the media rounds, defending the film’s questionable elements, arguing that they just want people to lighten up, get a sense of humour again and not take things so seriously. 

Well, if that’s what Lawrence – who is an executive producer on the film – wanted then she should have made a funnier, more intelligent film that didn’t use outdated, tone-deaf clichés.

The premise is a stinker from the start. Lawrence plays Maddie, a down-on-her-luck, 32-year-old whose car is impounded due to unpaid taxes on the house she owns (which is the family home she grew up in). Since she makes the bulk of her income by being an Uber driver, this puts her in financial dire straits. 

Then she spots a personal ad from a couple of wealthy parents who are seeking a young (early twenties) woman to help lead their awkward, virginal son across the threshold into manhood. As payment for this service they will give the young lady a car. 

Maddie, of course, answers the ad and has an interview with the parents, played by Matthew Broderick and Laura Benanti. It’s cringeworthy. They explain that their son, Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman) is shy, withdrawn, sexually inexperienced, spends all day in his room on his computer. They know he’s not gay because they’ve seen the porn he watches.

Basically, they’d like Maddie to root their son before he heads off to Princeton because somehow this will make him better prepared for college life. Maddie accepts. 

Maddie goes to the animal shelter where Percy works and the less-than-subtle flirtation begins. In fact, flirtation is far too gentle a word. Maddie is confrontational, aggressive and indifferent to Percy’s feelings or desires. 

Her behaviour can only be described as sexual harassment, coercion and actual assault. 

The story is unsophisticated and regressive. Its attempt to subvert “woke culture” is feeble and simplistic. Instead, it champions conservative ideas of masculinity, shows intolerance of individuals who may sit outside the norm, has undercurrents of homophobia, and is lacking in imagination when it comes to sex and attraction. 

There are a few laughs but there are a lot more frowns.  

★

In cinemas now