Maddie, 32, was born and spent her entire life in Montauk, in the Hamptons. Because of the gentrification of recent years, the young woman, who combines a job as a waitress and another as an Uber driver, risks losing the house bequeathed by her late mother, for lack of being able to pay her huge tax bill. Worse, we seized his car, on which part of his livelihood depends. So here she is resigning herself to answering a funny announcement: worried about Percy, their 19-year-old son, wealthy parents are looking for a young woman to bring him out of his shell. In other words, deflower him. Salary ? A car. Presented as a raw comedy and sexy, No Hard Feelings (Without hard feelings) is only part of that.
Indeed, the trailer for this film, co-produced by Naomi Odenkirk and Bob Odenkirk (from the series Better Call Saul), suggests something like Risky Business (What a story !), Porky’s (At Porky’s), Weird Science (dream creature) and others American Pie (Graduation Madness), jewels, so to speak, of the sub-genre that is the “teenage sex comedy” (or ” teen sex comedy “). In recurring figures: young men determined to lose their virginity, often with a woman older than them.
Despite appearances, that’s not really the direction director and co-screenwriter Gene Stupnitsky is taking. For the record, Stupnitsky co-scripted the insolent — and hilarious — bad teacher (dirty teacher), and co-wrote and directed the prank, but ordinary, Good Boys (good boys). Hence these few salacious passages and moments of farce.
Gold, No Hard Feelings turns out to be surprisingly sentimental, in a good way. Wounded each in their own way, and having both erected one form or another of protective barrier around them, Maddie and Percy develop a bond that is not without surprising and annoying the first.
If she tells Percy the truth, Maddie will lose what little she has (there is much talk about the inequities that gentrification amplifies).
A story of friendship
Now for the elephant in the room: “What if it was a 19-year-old young woman that parents threw into the arms of a 32-year-old man? “Double standards? Without a doubt. Except that the film avoids this trap by making it clear that the “problem” is not Percy, his reserved nature or his virginity, but his parents, whose approach is ill-advised. For the anecdote, a real ad placed on Craigslist by parents inspired the film.
In this regard, Stupnitsky misses a great opportunity to explore the pressure placed on boys, historically, to lose their virginity sooner rather than later, as a sign of pseudo “true” masculinity, with the key, once, these obligatory passages in a strip club or in a brothel.
Calculating every risk, No Hard Feelings There’s a bit of naughtiness here and there, but it’s really a touching story of friendship that’s in question. And if it works, despite a rather uneven pace, it’s thanks to the crazy chemistry that the two stars share.
More tender than saucy
As Maddie, Jennifer Lawrence is unsurprisingly terrific. The star of Don’t Look Up! (Don’t Look Up: Cosmic Denial) and of Causewaywinner of the Oscar for best actress for Silver Lining Playbook (The bright side), has no equal in provoking hilarity and then moving the next moment.
The star also displays a remarkable sense of self-mockery, as her character goes from humiliation to humiliation on the road to recovery.
A newcomer, Andrew Barth Feldman is a revelation: skinny, timorous, his Percy is nonetheless full of surprises (this piano number!).
In short, behind his patter, No Hard Feelings turns out to be a comedy that is more tender than bawdy. It’s not worse.