Review of NO HARD FEELINGS: Desperate Deal

June 26, 2023

Maddie (Jennfer Lawrence) was an Uber driver who just lost her car which was repossessed to pay for her delinquent property taxes for the house she inherited from her mother. She may also lose the house itself if she cannot pay the full amount she owed the government. Desperate, she went to apply for a job being offered online by a couple looking for a girl who is willing to "date" their son in exchange for a car.

Maddie met Mr. and Mrs. Laird and Allison Becker (Matthew Broderick and Laura Benanti) in their big house on the hill. Their son Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman) is already 19 years old, but had led a very sheltered and pampered life at home. They want Maddie to break Percy out of his shell socially, and initiate him about girls, dating and sex. They want him to be experienced in these things before he goes to Princeton. 

Most of us knew Jennifer Lawrence best in her role as Katniss Everdeen in "The Hunger Games" (2012). However, she was already an Oscar Best Actress nominee before that for "Winter's Bone" (2009). She actually won that Oscar for "Silver Lining's Playbook" (2012) at age 22, the second youngest actress to win Best Actress. She had two more Oscar nominations after that -- "American Hustle" (2013) and "Joy" (2015).

Lawrence had her first ever bed scene with Chris Pratt in "Passengers" (2016) and her first breast exposure in "Red Sparrow" (2018) -- both did not click with critics and audiences. This time around, Lawrence does raunchy R-rated sex comedy -- not only with a bed scene with an actor 10 years younger, but also full frontal nudity in a beach tussle scene (NOT seen in the local release). However, Lawrence's innate likability and acting skills will make audiences root for Maddie. 

This was written and directed by Greg Stupnitsky, previously noted for writing two more sex comedies -- "Bad Teacher" (2011) and "Good Boys" (2019) -- the latter of which was also his directorial  debut. Stupnitsky clearly had a knack for this subgenre, adding in some crazy stunt gags involving cars and commentary about Gen Z and their gadgets. Overall, despite all the naughtiness, it still managed to end with heart, thanks to the goodwill of its lead actress. 7/10.

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