[3.9]
A modern “raunchy” comedy with heart, NO HARD FEELINGS may not go as far into gross-out territory as it could have, but it still manages to entertain with its classic story of a deceptive makeover. In a genre-swapping twist on the “guy dates the ugly duckling to win a bet” plot (see: SHE’S ALL THAT), broke townie Maddie takes up a wealthy couple on their offer of a new car in exchange for “dating” their introverted son, Percy (there’s a fun scene in which Maddie asks what exactly they mean by “date,” to which they respond coyly: “date him hard”). The script is fairly entertaining in a breezy way, but wouldn’t be nearly as effective without the star presence of Jennifer Lawrence. It’s fascinating to see Lawrence give her all in a role that would usually be filled by someone of lesser acting caliber. As if to really live up to her “beer drinking girl-next-door” image, Lawrence fully commits to the low-brow humor, even providing us with a surprising and hilarious nude fight scene (this is probably the standout moment of the movie, as director Gene Stupnitsky cleverly resists showing us any flesh early on, subverting the expectation for t&a, until he suckerpunches us with a suddenly fully-naked Lawrence coming out of the ocean and tussling with the couple who stole her clothes).
The scripting mostly works, keeping us entertained on a journey where we all know the route: Percy discovers that Maddie has been manipulating him, and he rebels, before they kiss and make up. Stupnitsky has some interesting tricks to modernize the story, including making Maddie much older than Percy and then “violating” him in a tragically uncomfortable scene where Percy (already aware of Maddie’s deceptions) pretends he is still into Maddie and they have sex. Stupnitsky mostly skirts around the thorny issues of consent, but hints at some troubling questions regarding it. I didn’t mind that the film’s humor sags a bit in the last half, replaced with a more heartfelt reconciliation of the characters. Lawrence and Andrew Barth (Percy) have good chemistry, so even though they end up as more brother and sister, it’s a relationship we believe in and root for. There’s some attempt at class consciousness (Maddie is a lower middle-class “native” who resents having to serve all of the rich out of towners who come to town only for holiday), but it’s fairly facile and doesn’t go very far in exploring the concept. Also, while the entire plot is based on the absurd (or is it?) premise of a woman selling sex for a car, this desperate negotiation of bodily autonomy and economics has more potential for examination than this mainstream comedy is willing to tackle. And yes, Maddie has Daddy issues (she is bitterly waiting for her rich absentee father to return), but Lawrence’s strong performance reveals a woman who isn’t a hero or a victim: she’s just a normal, complicated human. If nothing else, NO HARD FEELINGS shows how you can successfully modernize a stale genre without desperate attempts for a politically correct tone.
burning retina 