For those of us who grew up on John Hughes’ movies, the idea of a sassy young woman being employed by helicopter parents to “date” their introverted 19-year-old son may induce feelings of both nostalgia and awkwardness.
Back in the 80s, Hughes’ geeky male characters got girls drunk and took their knickers, while jocks duped virgins into engaging in sexual shenanigans. You can’t be doing that nowadays (technically, you shouldn’t have been doing it then, either).
But with the beguiling Jennifer Lawrence as 32-year-old, down-on-her-luck Maddie, and up-and-comer Andrew Barth Feldman as her endearingly naive prey, Percy, No Hard Feelings surprises by being sweet, smart and actually funny.
Maddie is an Uber driver without a vehicle who is about to lose her house in the seaside Long Island town where she grew up. Resentful of the rich summer folk who are gentrifying the place, Maddie answers an advert from the wealthy Beckers (well played by Laura Benanti and Matthew Broderick, once one of the geeky males in those 80s movies), who are concerned about their shy, antisocial son (a terrific Feldman). He’s about to go to Princeton, and they want him socialised and deflowered before school begins. In return for a car, Maddie agrees to stage a meet-cute with Percy and become his girlfriend, without giving the game away.
The gift for comedy that Lawrence has previously shown in the likes of Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle, and on many a talk-show couch, is put to good use here. With a Katharine Hepburn-esque mix of sassy line delivery, stunning good looks and a knack for slapstick, Lawrence makes Maddie remarkably likeable, even though she’s essentially just selling her body for some wheels.
Kudos to 21-year-old Feldman, a talented young Broadway performer who more than holds his own against Lawrence, the seasoned film star. Percy is immune to Maddie’s charms in the cutest and funniest way imaginable – not someone to be pitied or mocked, but someone who can, as it turns out, teach the older woman a thing or two. The duo have an easy chemistry that never turns creepy.
This second directorial outing for screenwriter Gene Stupnitsky (co-creator of Prime Video’s fantastic new show Jury Duty) is enjoyably light, swapping its potentially off-colour conceit for a quick-witted script full of double entendres, failed sexual forays and a surprising whiff of integrity.
Rating: ★★★½
No Hard Feelings, directed by Gene Stupnitsky, is in cinemas now.
