Maybe both actors will just want to have some simple fun again, in other settings, in an effort to re-create this film’s seemingly sunny experience-soft feelings only.One of the most awarded actresses in American television history and who received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2010 and who also has been inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 2014 is none but the receiver of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, Julia Louis-Dreyfus. And perhaps Feldman could continue to explore the slight glint of edginess unearthed in this film. Should Lawrence want to further pursue the comedy vein and really get down in the muck next time, that would certainly be welcome.
On its own terms, though, No Hard Feelings is an agreeable, if fleeting, pleasure. Which is a slight disappointment, demanding a sudden realignment of expectations to get on the movie’s wavelength. Despite those occasional bursts of raucous energy, though, the film’s presiding vibes are laidback. The summertime, greens-and-blues, coastal Long Island setting is used to effectively lulling, poignant effect, making the film’s comic interruptions of physical distress-a nude brawl on a beach, a throat punch gone horribly wrong, a blast of mace right to the eyes-that much more jolting. It’s a mellow hang movie, really, more in line with Big Time Adolescence than with, say, the gunk of There’s Something About Mary or the profane chatter of Superbad. To me, No Hard Feelings is a surprisingly tame movie, prizing themes of growth and maturity over the messy mechanics of seduction and sexual negotiation. Of course, creepiness is in the eye of the beholder some viewers will likely be entirely put off by the film. No Hard Feelings is careful to delineate specifically what does and does not happen between Maddie and Percy, and to frame the strange request made by Percy’s parents (played gamely by Laura Benanti and Matthew Broderick) as coming from a place of genuine, un-creepy love. The film, based somewhat on a real Craigslist ad, is certainly conscious of that ethical third-rail, but only pursues its moral hazard so far. No Hard Feelings has been decried by some online as a groomer movie, or whatever the preferred age-gap terminology is at the moment. He rises to the no doubt intimidating challenge of acting directly opposite Lawrence and the two build a dynamic rapport, tender and friendly but, yes, complicated by sex. Feldman instead finds interesting nuance, giving Percy a little mettle here, a jag of darkness there. Percy would be easy to overplay as some jumble of tics and sniveling worry, a parody of nerdishness that makes all the expected jokes. So does Feldman, a rising theater star making only his second film appearance. She’s charming and funny in public appearances and her acting has always been animated by a spiky intelligence that seems primed for the genre. Fans of Lawrence-who has been easing her way back into film stardom after slowing down the rocket ship of her career at the end of the last decade-have long wanted her to do an outright comedy. The film’s greatest assets are its two central performances. It’s an amiable time at the movies-but I was hoping for more of a shock. No Hard Feelings is a nice comedy, courting taboo here and there but largely rounded out with sweetness. But Gene Stupnitsky’s film has a kinder, gentler tone and intent than its logline suggests. Lawrence does indeed play a 32-year-old, Maddie, who agrees to seduce 19-year-old Percy ( Andrew Barth Feldman) in exchange for a desperately needed car. In actuality, No Hard Feelings is lighter than advertised. The trailer was buzzy and immediately controversial when is the last time that could be said about a theatrically released studio comedy?
The film’s intriguingly risqué premise-a 30-something woman is hired by a nerdy teen’s rich parents to deflower their awkward son before he heads off to college-seemed like a welcome return to the transgressions of the Farrelly or Apatow eras.
#JULIA LOUIS DREYFUS NUDE BEACH MOVIE#
The trailer for No Hard Feelings (in theaters June 23) promised something rare in today’s cinematic landscape: a hard-R, raunchy comedy with a genuine movie star, Jennifer Lawrence, in the lead.
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