Finally! A funny comedy, it's been, like YEARS!
I'd heard about the nudity in No Hard Feelings before I heard about the actual movie, so I wasn't necessarily expecting a laugh out loud comedy as I assumed the nudity was the actual selling feature. I was wrong.
In this day & age, sex & nudity isn't hard to access but good comedy is definitely rare. I'm definitely at the age (57) where I really just want to be entertained and laugh. After I saw the trailer, my expectations grew; Jennifer Lawrence IS naturally funny and quick witted in real life (from the interviews I've seen) and she definitely has developed strong comedy chops. Needless to say they are on full display in No Hard Feelings and I'd hope to see her do more films like this. Lawrence paired with Aubrey Plaza, Melissa McCarthy, Kristin Wiig, Tina Fey etc would be dynamite, as long as Fey & co wrote the script.
The farfetched premise, rich helicopter parents want to hire a girl to turn their shy, nerdy introverted son into a "man" so he can gain some confidence before college, is as outlandish & somewhat predictable as it is thin, but this isn't a documentary so just go with it.
At this stage of her career, Lawrence certainly doesn't have to do nudity but she does it on her terms and it's classic. Not going to spoil it. Andrew Barth Feldman who plays the hapless & love lost Percy is the perfect stooge against Lawrence's cougar-esque Maddie. Percy's dad, Laird, played by Matthew Broderick, & Laura Benanti as Allison, Percy's mom, are a tad one dimensional but they're there to provide the premise with the macguffin being a used Buick, but it works. Former SNL's Kyle Mooney's cameo provides a lot of chuckles and he certainly left me wanting more.
The comedy heavily relies on Lawrence trying to be sexy but coming off way too strong. That's not to say Lawrence isn't sexy, of course she is, but it's how that level of female sexual aggressiveness just doesn't land with the Minecraft & Fortnite generation, no matter how many Rule 34 videos they've watched based on their favourite animated shows. They're woefully under prepared for that level of hotness...and therefore hilarity ensues. And it actually does! The plot attempts to give the characters more emotional depth by revealing their backstory's which succeeds to a degree. It's not entirely heavy-handed thank goodness which could have thrown the balance if the movie off.
There's laughs and heart to bring the story to its completion and I'm not going to lie, I felt a post-credit scene set in the future would have been nice. All in all, a nice surprise and from what I can remember one of the best comedy's in recent memory. Come for the nudity, stay for the laughs!
In this day & age, sex & nudity isn't hard to access but good comedy is definitely rare. I'm definitely at the age (57) where I really just want to be entertained and laugh. After I saw the trailer, my expectations grew; Jennifer Lawrence IS naturally funny and quick witted in real life (from the interviews I've seen) and she definitely has developed strong comedy chops. Needless to say they are on full display in No Hard Feelings and I'd hope to see her do more films like this. Lawrence paired with Aubrey Plaza, Melissa McCarthy, Kristin Wiig, Tina Fey etc would be dynamite, as long as Fey & co wrote the script.
The farfetched premise, rich helicopter parents want to hire a girl to turn their shy, nerdy introverted son into a "man" so he can gain some confidence before college, is as outlandish & somewhat predictable as it is thin, but this isn't a documentary so just go with it.
At this stage of her career, Lawrence certainly doesn't have to do nudity but she does it on her terms and it's classic. Not going to spoil it. Andrew Barth Feldman who plays the hapless & love lost Percy is the perfect stooge against Lawrence's cougar-esque Maddie. Percy's dad, Laird, played by Matthew Broderick, & Laura Benanti as Allison, Percy's mom, are a tad one dimensional but they're there to provide the premise with the macguffin being a used Buick, but it works. Former SNL's Kyle Mooney's cameo provides a lot of chuckles and he certainly left me wanting more.
The comedy heavily relies on Lawrence trying to be sexy but coming off way too strong. That's not to say Lawrence isn't sexy, of course she is, but it's how that level of female sexual aggressiveness just doesn't land with the Minecraft & Fortnite generation, no matter how many Rule 34 videos they've watched based on their favourite animated shows. They're woefully under prepared for that level of hotness...and therefore hilarity ensues. And it actually does! The plot attempts to give the characters more emotional depth by revealing their backstory's which succeeds to a degree. It's not entirely heavy-handed thank goodness which could have thrown the balance if the movie off.
There's laughs and heart to bring the story to its completion and I'm not going to lie, I felt a post-credit scene set in the future would have been nice. All in all, a nice surprise and from what I can remember one of the best comedy's in recent memory. Come for the nudity, stay for the laughs!
- MoxxiProductions
- Jan 1, 2024