When it comes to raunchy comedies, Summer 2023 has no shortage of the cinematic staple. Joy Ride looks like it has the potential to be a new classic for the subgenre when it arrives in July, and Strays, the film about talking dogs that swear, seems just about as fun as the concept makes it sound. No Hard Feelings comes from director Gene Stupnitsky who himself is no stranger to the subgenre after directing Good Boys (2019), the movie about little boys that swear.

As a raunchy comedy that attempts to harken back to past films of its ilk like Risky Business (1983) and American Pie (1999), No Hard Feelings manages to obtain something that these films typically tend to lack: heart. However, in doing so, it also sacrifices some of the edge that they are most known for.

No Hard Feelings is centered around Maddie (Jennifer Lawrence), a woman in her early 30’s who works as an Uber driver. The audience is introduced to Maddie as her car gets repossessed by an ex-boyfriend in the opening scene. Initially, Maddie doesn’t come off as someone that the audience is supposed to root for. If it weren’t for Lawrence’s incredibly charismatic performance, viewers might even be quick to deem her as a lost cause. 

Maddie has commitment issues that stem from her father, who abandoned her and her mother for another family. This has made it difficult for her to hang onto relationships and explore her dreams away from home. Now, she faces the threat of having her childhood Long Island home taken away from her, and she lost the job that she needed to make enough money to save it.

In an act of desperation, Maddie agrees to “date” Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman) after being hired to do so by his helicopter parents (who are literally seen posing in front of a helicopter in a family photo). Percy’s parents offer to give Maddie a car in exchange for getting the awkward 19-year-old out of his shell before he leaves for his first year of college at the end of the summer. The only catch is that Percy can’t know anything about his parents hiring Maddie.

This premise naturally creates the potential for plenty of hilarious moments, like when Maddie first meets Percy at an animal shelter where he volunteers. In this extended sequence, Percy starts getting to know Maddie as he asks her a series of questions to gauge whether she would be a worthy pet owner. When all of Maddie’s innuendo-imbued answers make Percy feel uncomfortable, she offers to drive him home. Once Percy reluctantly accepts, he sprays Maddie with mace after misinterpreting the situation as an attempted kidnapping.

Lawrence’s performance in this scene is hysterical, and it’s one of the first moments where the Academy Award-winning actress truly gets to flex her comedic muscles. At times, Lawrence carries No Hard Feelings on her shoulders, and she proves on multiple occasions throughout the film that she is probably the only actress who could’ve played this role in as effective a fashion.

While other sidesplitting scenes of this nature are present, they are not as abundant as they could have been had the screenplay by Stupnitsky and co-writer John Phillips retained its sharpness. 

After a scene in which Maddie persuades Percy to go skinny dipping with her during their first date, No Hard Feelings rarely achieves the same level of hard-hitting comedy that heavily populates its first act. Part of the reason why this happens is because the pacing begins to slow down as it focuses more on building the relationship between the two characters. Although their relationship does manage to go from uncomfortable to endearing rather quickly, some of the fun raunchiness gets muddled along the way.

As the film shifts in gears, the viewer better gets to know Percy’s character, and Feldman begins to shine in the role. Feldman, who some may know from briefly playing another characteristically awkward character on Broadway as the titular character in Dear Evan Hansen, is fantastic. He does quite well at holding his own when acting opposite Lawrence, who could have easily stolen every scene from a less talented actor. 

The chemistry they share makes it easy for the audience to eventually become attached to their relationship as they begin to help each other overcome their insecurities. When the story eventually takes a predictable turn for the worse during the transition into the third act, the audience still manages to feel the devastation expressed by the characters because of how genuine the performances are.

Unfortunately, the third act is also the weakest and most forgettable portion of No Hard Feelings as characters begin acting irrationally and making decisions that feel unrealistic, let alone dangerous. One scene where Maddie interrupts Percy at a Princeton mixer takes such an especially unbelievable turn which should have landed both characters in prison. It is at this point that the viewer begins to wonder how the film managed to stray so far away from the peaks of where it started.

No Hard Feelings tries to be the next classic raunchy comedy in the mold of some of the movies it takes inspiration from. It comes close at times to the same level as those films, but it is unable to maintain its momentum and eventually coasts on heart rather than laughs. Lawrence and Feldman do their part to try to retain what made the first half special, but glaring pacing issues leave the viewer with some hard feelings.

Review Courtesy of Evan Miller

Feature Image Credit to Macall Polay/Sony Pictures