Theatrical No Hard Feelings (2023)

[Jason_V]

Title: No Hard Feelings (2023)

Tagline: Pretty. Awkward.

Genre: Comedy, Romance, Drama

Director: Gene Stupnitsky

Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Andrew Barth Feldman, Laura Benanti, Matthew Broderick, Natalie Morales, Scott MacArthur, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Kyle Mooney, Hasan Minhaj, Jordan Mendoza, Amalia Yoo, Alysia Joy Powell, Quincy Dunn-Baker, Matthew Noszka, Zahn McClarnon, Madison Odenborg, Christian Galvis, Matt Walton

Release: 2023-06-15

Runtime: 103

Plot: On the brink of losing her childhood home, Maddie discovers an intriguing job listing: wealthy helicopter parents looking for someone to “date” their introverted 19-year-old son, Percy, before he leaves for college. To her surprise, Maddie soon discovers the awkward Percy is no sure thing.

This movie may be the most fun I've had at a movie theater this year...and this is the kind of comedy that I wish we saw more.

Yes, it's crude. Yes, it is R rated for a reason. Yes, it has problems with some one-dimensional characters. But it's not nasty or mean spirited or filled with people I actively dislike. There is a heart to it even though we can see it coming a million miles away and there really isn't a surprise to be had.

It's just a good time. Judging by our very mixed demographic audience, I think everyone enjoyed it, too. That's my barometer: more on "did I enjoy it" rather than "is this going to win Best Picture."

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Jason I’m so glad to hear that. My expectations for this movie match your description of it, the trailer made me laugh, and it’s so rare to have a fun new theatrical movie just for grownups around these parts, so I’m looking forward to catching it on date night. Not that we don’t enjoy the Marvel movies and the Pixars and all of that stuff, but it’s been a long time since there’s been this kind of R-rated comedy that caught our interest.

 

[jayembee]

Interesting.

My reaction to the trailer has been that it looks awful. In fact, I said to my wife last night, after seeing the trailer for maybe the fourth time, "Either it really is as awful as it looks, or it's going to be hilarious beyond all expectations."

 

[Jason_V]

Interesting.

My reaction to the trailer has been that it looks awful. In fact, I said to my wife last night, after seeing the trailer for maybe the fourth time, "Either it really is as awful as it looks, or it's going to be hilarious beyond all expectations."

Comedy is super subjective, obviously. My favorite comedy of all time is Christmas Vacation...I cannot stand Mean Girls or Brides Maids or asinine crap like Everybody Loves Raymond. The only modern comedies on our watchlist every week are/were Ted Lasso, Abbott Elementary and The Simpsons.

Hard Feelings wants to be one of those sex farces from the 1980s but doesn't quite get there...and that's good. Those movies tended not to respect most of the characters and the female was the "conquest." Here, Jennifer Lawrence makes her own choices and it flips the script with Andrew Barth Feldman being the "conquest." All without being gross or offensive.

Would I watch this at home with my parents or my in-laws? Sure. There's nothing I cringe over in it.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

Wow, that was much better than I expected. If you don't go in expecting a 5-star comedy, I think you'll have fun.

I hope this does well so that studios will get back to making R-Rated comedies again.

 

[Tino]

Comedy is super subjective, obviously. My favorite comedy of all time is Christmas Vacation...

Well there you go!

 

[benbess]

This starting point in this movie is actually based on something real....

How a Craiglist ad inspired Jennifer Lawrence's 'No Hard Feelings'

'No Hard Feelings' director Gene Stupnitsky and star Jennifer Lawrence talk the Craigslist ad that inspired the film, which comedy legends influenced them, and the nickname they gave Matthew Broderick's wig.

ew.com

I was going to skip this movie, but thanks to the recommendation of @Jason_V I went to a matinee yesterday—and liked it! From my pov there were a few scenes that went a bit far and broke believability, but otherwise I thought it was amusing and charming. One of my favorite parts of the movie was when Percy sings....

Spoiler

a strangely moving and insightful version of "Maneater," the 1982 hit by Hall and Oates.

Anyway, my rating is a B+.

 

[Tino]

I was disappointed. I thought it was neither funny or crude enough. There was no chemistry between the leads and it was a very predictable generic plot. I really didn’t like any of the characters.

I think perhaps this is a film that needs to be seen with a full crowd on a Saturday night. Seeing it with 10 or so people in the audience on a Monday morning did it no favors.

 

[Patrick Sun]

I was like, why is 4-time Oscar nominee (1-time winner) wasting her time on this movie? (Besides the payday, of course).

 

[Tino]

I was like, why is 4-time Oscar nominee (1-time winner) wasting her time on this movie? (Besides the payday, of course).

She was pretty mediocre in this. Comedy is not her strong suit. Going full frontal in that scene just seemed gratuitous and not funny.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Going full frontal in that scene just seemed gratuitous and not funny.

It wasn't the full frontal that was funny, it was what came immediately after it.

 

[Tino]

It wasn't the full frontal that was funny, it was what came immediately after it.

Sorry but what came immediately after it? Or are you referring to what she did naked which I didn’t think was that funny.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Sorry but what came immediately after it? Or are you referring to what she did naked which I didn’t think was that funny.

The latter. That whole fight sequence and just the sheer fierce crudeness of it made me laugh.

 

[benbess]

....There was no chemistry between the leads....

You make good points, and I agree the movie could have been better. For me the glass was half-full on this flawed film that from my pov had some good moments. My rating of B+ probably had some grade inflation in it, because it was nice to see a revival of what seems to be an almost lost genre.

When it comes to the lack of chemistry, I agree, but I'm guessing much of that was something that was trying to be conveyed by the filmmakers....

Spoiler

Maddie doesn't ever "feel that way" about Percy—not even at the end of the movie. Not remotely. In contrast, Percy not only feels that way about Maddie, he falls in love with her. Awkward! After a while, however, Maddie gets to like Percy, and really wants to be friends with him—but just friends. This is where the movie ends, it seems to me, with that same dynamic in play.

 

[benbess]

I was like, why is 4-time Oscar nominee (1-time winner) wasting her time on this movie? (Besides the payday, of course).

Payday was thought to be in the $20 million range.

Jennifer Lawrence, Gene Stupnitsky Team for Sony’s ‘No Hard Feelings’

The studio picks up a buzzy comedy feature package as Lawrence is set to earn a hefty payday.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

 

[Patrick Sun]

I heard $25 million due to producing duties too.

 

[Malcolm R]

Yes, it was reportedly more than half of the film's overall $45 million budget.

 

[Lee Sandersen]

My guess is that the money men in Hollywood have realized quite a while what the ME2 movement has cost them at the box office and they want the audiences (namely, young men) back in the theaters. If someone of Lawrence's caliber has no problem with this, then more power to her.

 

[Wayne_j]

Did anyone else wonder why they are in the bar talking about Maneater when nothing is playing during the scene and then they play it 10 minutes later?

 

[Josh Steinberg]

My wife and I caught this during the week and like Jason, we both had a fabulous time enjoying it for what it was. Ok, it’s not a best picture winner and might not even be remembered next summer, but it was the perfect kind of film to see in a crowded theater filled with people ready to laugh together. Every joke landed as it was supposed to, and for two hours, all was right with the world. That’s what a trip to the movies is supposed to be, and I’m glad we got to see this.