But what they both really need, and what they find, is someone to just listen and to share vulnerability in return. Maddie needs a car to save her house, and Percy needs a date in order to come out of his shell. “No Hard Feelings” feels more substantive in these moments of cultural observation and emotional depth. It’s a scarily accurate skewering that should hopefully inspire some self-reflection. Meanwhile, the poor millennials are immature, jobless and living at home - too young to own property and too old to be TikTok stars, but at least they know how to have a good time. The overbearing Gen X parents enable their anxious, self- and cellphone-obsessed zoomer children, jettisoning discipline while trying to be “cool,” locked in a toxic co-dependent dynamic that never allows their children to fail, or succeed. What makes “No Hard Feelings” so sharp and funny though, isn’t the raunchy jokes or the physical comedy (though the sight of Lawrence bouncing Feldman on her knee might be the funniest image onscreen this summer), it’s the savagery of the generational social commentary underpinning the script by Stupnitsky and John Phillips, and no generation is safe. There’s a beautiful subtlety to his performance and a precision to his physicality that makes him an incredibly compelling screen presence, and their opposites-attract chemistry is ridiculously charming. He’s 19, she’s 32 he’s obsessed with rules, she’s on probation.įeldman, a 21-year-old Broadway star (“Dear Evan Hansen”) in his first starring film role, shines as Percy, the anxious, cautious foil to Maddie’s reckless wild child. Maddie and Percy forge a bond after a disastrous date that results in both experiencing harrowing bodily harm while in the buff, and something like a friendship blossoms between these two oddballs, who are odd in different ways. Maddie needs a car, and she’s willing to romance a (legal) teenager, so off she roller skates for what she hopes will be a quick and easy venture into sex work.īut of course, it’s never about the destination but the friends we make along the way, and “No Hard Feelings” would never deny us that journey. Her car’s been just repossessed, towed by her ex Gary (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), and with unpaid property tax bills looming, she needs wheels.Įnter the weirdest Craigslist ad of all time: A pair of wealthy helicopter parents ( Matthew Broderick and Laura Benanti) would like to “arrange” for a young woman to date their sheltered, nerdy son, Percy ( Andrew Barth Feldman) in exchange for a Buick. There simply aren’t enough female dirtbags in cinema, so Lawrence’s Maddie Barker - Uber driver, surly bartender and pissed-off Montauk townie - is a refreshing character. It’s a “Superbad”-style story with the sensitivity and class consciousness of John Hughes, a delightfully raunchy streak, and Lawrence going for broke in a bold and bawdy performance as a rowdy Long Island surfer girl doing her best Mae West. Her follow-up swings in the opposite direction, kicking up her heels in a good old-fashioned sex comedy, “No Hard Feelings,” which she also produced.ĭirected by Gene Stupnitsky ( “Good Boys”), “No Hard Feelings” is a direct descendant of ‘80s teen coming-of-age comedies but evolved for a new generation. Last year, Lawrence produced and starred in the gritty indie film “Causeway,” as a veteran recovering from a traumatic brain injury, for a first-time female director, Lila Neugebauer. It was a smart move, because Lawrence is back now, and it’s a whole new ball game. So she fired her agents and took a break to get married and have a baby. But not all of those films were good, and Lawrence didn’t seem to be having all that much fun. A good film, and I enjoyed it.In 2018, Jennifer Lawrence was 28 and one of the biggest movie stars in the world: an Academy Award-winning actor, a veteran of the “Hunger Games” franchise, alternating between prestige projects and giant action movies. There is a lot of time given to plucking up courage. The film is slow in parts because these are teenagers given time to say things they find it hard to express. It is of the utmost importance when watching this film to read the subtitles carefully. This is not an action movie, but a story of psychological development. The final sequence shows self-doubt being finally overcome. This is one gay character who is not angst ridden, but comfortable in his own life and consequently able to be a guide and support. The two themes interweave – coming to see a bullying father for what he is, and using the character of a gay friend to help Martin, who is the victim of his own father’s anger, arrive at freedom and self-assurance. This is a pleasantly developed story, well acted and directed. Two boys on the edge of adulthood find themselves exploring their relationship. 1h 23min | Drama | 5 November 2015 (Brazil)
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