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The R-rated studio comedy hardly makes any theatrical appearances these days, especially in the age of streaming. The only adult comedies usually come from Universal Pictures, which relish in genre-bending (" Cocaine Bear ," " Renfield "), mixing up concepts for kids but with a mature twist (the upcoming "Strays"), or banking on a comedian closely associated with Judd Apatow (" Bros "). But a solo comedic vehicle for an A-lister to show off their comedic chops (and not from Universal) sounds like a pipe dream. But Sony and Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence have made that pipe dream into a raunchy reality with the confident '80s-styled R-rated comedy "No Hard Feelings."

Directed by Gene Stupnitsky (" Good Boys ," co-creator of Freevee's " Jury Duty "), the film centers on Maddie Barker (Lawrence), a Montauk-based Uber driver in her early thirties and on the verge of bankruptcy. When her car gets repossessed by her scorned tow trucker ex Gary ( Ebon Moss-Bachrach ), the house that her late mother left her is about to foreclose, and the income from her mundane part-time bartending job at a seafood-themed bar is far from enough to suffice. Resorting to Craigslist, Maddie answers an odd job listing that offers a Buick Regal as compensation. The position: date a wealthy couple's ( Matthew Broderick and Laura Benanti ) 19-year-old son Percy ( Andrew Barth Feldman ) for the summer, get him out of his shell, and pop his first cherry before heading to Princeton University in the fall; all while Percy is unsuspecting of his parents' involvement. Initially thinking the gig would be a piece of cake, Percy's clueless, awkward anxiety-riddled vibe gives Maddie a run for her money.

Since departing from Creative Artists Agency in 2018, Jennifer Lawrence's recent return to the big screen boasts liberation from the intensity she poured into her past few roles. Her days of prestigious Oscar bait and being a franchise star who wore exhaustion in her performances are over. Today, with each new project, her agency and freedom are prominent. In "No Hard Feelings," Lawrence proudly lets her freak flag fly.

Through the rambunctious, hasty cynical Maddie, Lawrence returns to her comedic roots from 2007's "The Bill Engvall Show" and aces each facet of her performance here. She has the same skillful comedic ability as Anna Faris , Charlize Theron , Emma Stone , and Regina Hall , who flip their sensuality on a dime and dive into silly behavior. Lawrence has expert comic timing, especially with Maddie's cynical clap backs and insults. Even for a skilled talent like Lawrence, she still impresses with her commitment to outrageous feats of physical comedy. Nothing she has done as Mystique in any of the " X-Men " films will measure up to Maddie going full pro-wrestler on a bunch of teenagers in her birthday suit.

"No Hard Feelings" boasts a breakthrough standout performance by Andrew Barth Feldman, who leaps from the Broadway stage to the silver screen as a delightful foil to Maddie. His Percy is like the anthesis of Gary from Paul Thomas Anderson's " Licorice Pizza "; Instead of pursuing a woman of his elder, he does everything in his power to maintain abstinence at a slow and steady pace. He's the perfect foil for Lawrence's Maddie, garnering numerous laughs with his timid demeanor contrasting her outward confident spirit.

Lawrence's and Feldman's offbeat budding chemistry bolsters the film's humor more than the mediocre material. The best gags are all spoiled in the much better-edited trailer, which quickly cuts to the next joke, as opposed to the final product, where shots often linger on an actor's reaction to whatever wackiness is occurring. Throughout this movie, I patiently waited for a singular laugh-out-loud moment not from the promos. That moment never arrived.

Director Stupnitsky is no stranger to combining the sincere and absurd. His previous feature endeavor, "Good Boys," did just that and prospered thanks to its central young cast. His most recent project as a series co-creator, "Jury Duty," followed suit using the charming non-actor subject Ronald Gladden. "No Hard Feelings" persists in trying to have its raunchy cake full of sweet sentimental frosting, but the frustrating script forces its gags and drama. The film's comedic and dramatic facets attempt to garner a rise reaction from the audience without balancing the two.

Halfway through, "No Hard Feelings" reaches a gag high point and abruptly stops, sacrificing scenes of dating mishaps for juxtaposed stories about two lonely people of different generations and classes influencing each other to grow up. As sharp as they may seem, these elements are too familiar to "Licorice Pizza" and Lawrence's previous lead project " Causeway ," two films that more robustly depicted these budding arcs. Around this movie's second half, the outlandish comedy is lost in unearned character drama straight from an entirely separate script.

If it wasn't for Lawrence and Barth Feldman's joint comedic excellence, with their commanding charm and chemistry fueling its laughs, "No Hard Feelings" would have been a disaster. But thanks to them, it's a serviceable summer comedy that should keep the J. Law lovers happy, even though her talents are better used elsewhere.

In theaters now.

Rendy Jones

Rendy Jones (they/he) is a film and television journalist born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. They are the owner of self-published independent outlet Rendy Reviews, a member of the Critics' Choice Association, GALECA, and a part time stand-up comedian.

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No Hard Feelings (2023)

Rated R for sexual content, language, some graphic nudity and brief drug use.

103 minutes

Jennifer Lawrence as Maddie Barker

Andrew Barth Feldman as Percy Becker

Laura Benanti as Allison Becker

Matthew Broderick as Laird Becker

Natalie Morales as Sara

Scott MacArthur as Jim

Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Gary

Kyle Mooney as Jody

Hasan Minhaj as Doug Kahn

Jordan Mendoza as Crispin

Amalia Yoo as Natalie

• Gene Stupnitsky
• John Phillips

Cinematographer

• Eigil Bryld
• Brent White
• Mychael Danna
• Jessica Rose Weiss

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‘no hard feelings’ review: jennifer lawrence shines in sweet and saucy summer comedy.

The actress stars alongside Andrew Barth Feldman in Gene Stupnitsky's movie about a woman hired by an awkward teen's parents to boost his confidence by dating him.

By Lovia Gyarkye

Lovia Gyarkye

Arts & Culture Critic

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No Hard Feelings, Gene Stupnitsky ‘s satisfyingly funny summer comedy, opens with a tow truck and a desperate woman.

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It’s under these terrible circumstances that Maddie finds a peculiar Craigslist advertisement. A rich couple (played by Laura Benanti and Matthew Broderick ), desperate for their son (Andrew Barth Feldman) to gain confidence before college, is looking for someone to casually date him. Love, lust and sexual experimentation will loosen up their anxious teen and catapult him into adulthood, they hope. Oh, and they will give the family’s old Buick to whoever gets the job done.

This premise instigates the action in No Hard Feelings . The film, directed and co-written by Stupnitsky ( Good Boys ), is modeled after the raunchy comedies of the early aughts — the kind of mid-budget studio flicks that end up buried in the algorithmic madness of a streaming service these days. This airy and refreshingly low-stakes comedy will have you steadily chuckling, if not necessarily rolling on the floor laughing. But it also has a surprising amount of heart.

Lawrence is a big part of the reason No Hard Feelings works. She’s sharp and sassy as the hyper-independent, emotionally avoidant lover with a short fuse. It’s fun to watch the actress embrace her sillier register, but her dramatic skills are a boon, too, lending depth to a character that could be one-note and making it easier to believe the more emotional turns the film takes later.

Maddie manages to convince Allison (Benanti) and Laird (Broderick) that, although she’s older than the requested age (early-to-mid 20s), she’s the right person to help their son Percy (Feldman) out of his shell. As these things go, Maddie must keep the exchange with the parents a secret and stage a meet-cute with Percy. Their first encounter is, conveniently, at the animal shelter where Percy works during the summer. He’s not a local like Maddie; he’s a “summer person,” a phrase Maddie scornfully uses to refer to the vacationers driving up the cost of living.

Maddie comes on strong and Percy, who prefers to be alone, rejects her initial advances. Feldman’s chronically uncomfortable teen plays well against Lawrence’s energizer bunny-esque adult. The two represent a generational divide between Gen Z and elder millennials, a contrast that provides the substance for many of the film’s jokes. Maddie doesn’t understand why Percy doesn’t drink or know how to drive, or why he isn’t constantly horny. “What’s wrong with your generation?” reactions become something of a refrain, which starts to feel tired by the end of the film. Percy, on the other hand, finds himself simultaneously attracted to and afraid of Maddie, who he, on more than one occasion, suggests embodies the Hall & Oates song “Maneater.”

In its commitment to a particular kind of sentimentalism, No Hard Feelings doesn’t fully lean into the raunchiness some might expect from its trailer or early buzz. It also doesn’t become a Licorice Pizza kind of story — Maddie is clear on her end goal and Percy’s awkwardness can’t be overcome so easily. From its early moments, the film suggests that the bond between these two lonely souls is based on the strength of their friendship. The film’s shift into a more emotional gear isn’t seamless — the narrative takes some clunky turns in order to keep itself moving — but it is ultimately endearing.

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No Hard Feelings Reviews

"No Hard Feelings" drives toward queer futurity in unexpected ways and is an absolutely remarkable debut for the young director.

Full Review | Feb 16, 2022

The most contemporary film about immigration you'll have ever seen.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 31, 2021

Deeply, thoughtfully, engagingly and vividly interrogates and explores the life of a queer man of Iranian descent who has spent his entire life in Germany.

Full Review | Mar 19, 2021

Brazen and audacious, a magnificent film

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 8, 2020

Shariat's debut is quietly shrewd about checking its characters' privilege.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 7, 2020

Love triangles rarely feel more truthful or more tender than in No Hard Feelings, a beautiful film that announces debut director Faraz Shariat as a filmmaker worth reckoning with.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 26, 2020

This observational approach is skilfully maintained and deeply involving.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 20, 2020

Shariat makes some bold directorial moves toward surrealism in the film's final act, an interesting if not always effective choice, but otherwise, this is a thoughtful, naturalistic drama about figuring out who you are and where you fit.

Full Review | Nov 19, 2020

There's an undeniable sense of poetry to its visual and verbal expressions of youth.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 26, 2020

It's a most auspicious debut feature that goes out on a limb in several ways, from Parvis' somewhat off-putting character to some risky but successful abrupt shifts in tone and technique.

Full Review | Sep 18, 2020

No Hard Feelings is a great calling card for Shariat, who is clearly one for the future. It'll be interesting where he goes with his sophomore film.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Sep 11, 2020

A touching, well-told story about fitting in, immigration, and sexuality. It's a bittersweet romance with great performances and a good message.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 31, 2020

Eschewing the usual coming-out tropes - his parents accept his outing pretty smoothly, and homophobic push back from Amon's mates is kept to a bare minimum - this dance music-doused reverie thrums to the beat of punch-drunk love

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 26, 2020

"No Hard Feelings" is a love story, an immigrant tale and the announcement of an exciting new talent in Shariat.

Full Review | Feb 25, 2020

‘No Hard Feelings’ Review: Jennifer Lawrence’s Semi-Rom-Com Flirts With Risky Business but Plays It Safe

Lawrence plays a Montauk Uber driver hired to take a 19-year-old's virginity in a satire of the safe-space generation that's mostly a big tease.

By Owen Gleiberman

Owen Gleiberman

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Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman) is the aforementioned 19-year-old, whose wealthy parents ( Matthew Broderick , smug in long gray boomer hair, and Laura Benanti) have a posh home in Montauk, and it seems they’ve devoted their lives to overprotecting him. They’re helicopter perfectionists who track his every move, have the passcode to his phone, and have made sure that his entire existence exemplifies the safe-space generation. The result? Percy is a morose loner with no friends, who doesn’t drive or drink or do anything fun, and is getting ready to ship off to college as a monkish arrested-development case.

As an actor, Jennifer Lawrence radiates pride, sensuality, and a glowing belief in herself, and I didn’t buy for a moment that her Maddie would sign on to sleeping with some kid all to gain access to a car , so that she could rejoin the gig economy, because otherwise her beloved house will go poof! But watching “No Hard Feelings,” you sort of roll with it, because the director and co-screenwriter, Gene Stupnisky (“Good Boys”), works with a confectionary skill that tugs you along, because in spirit it’s just a rom-com (a form not meant to pass the plausibility test), and because Lawrence, acting with a brazen theatrical sexiness that allows her to wink at the audience at how adeptly she can turn it off and on, and big-screen newcomer Andrew Barth Feldman, who’s like Mike White crossed with the pale son of Seth Meyers crossed with an amoeba, turns out to be a winning actor.

The two characters meet when Maddie, faking everything she says, stops into the animal shelter where Percy is working as a volunteer. She’s wearing a skin-tight raspberry mini-dress and strappy gold platform heels, and her every line about adopting a dog is an aggressive double entendre. The joke is that it all falls on deaf ears; Percy does not appear to be a kid with an inner dog. In fact, “No Hard Feelings” does such a good job of establishing that Maggie’s sex-bomb exhibitionism is all theater, done from pure opportunism, and that Percy has no hormonal response to it, that the film effectively defangs any possible romantic or erotic danger from either side. It’s like “Risky Business” restaged as low-risk management.

For a while, Maddie tries to goad Percy into finding his inner wild boy. At a bar, she orders him a Long Island Ice Tea (which he thinks tastes like bad ice tea), and at the beach she coerces him into a nude midnight ocean swim, an adventure cut short when some rude kids decide to steal their clothes. The scene that follows, in which Maddie runs out of the ocean and engages them in physical combat, all while she herself remains totally full-frontal naked, plays as a weird piece of exploitation. It was completely unnecessary to film Lawrence in that way, apart from someone’s calculation about how much it would add to the film’s box-office take. But to demonstrate that the movie is practicing equal-opportunity nudity, Percy winds up naked on the hood of a speeding car, in a scene that feels like it would kill to be taking place in a junk teen comedy of the ’80s.

Somehow, though, it doesn’t come to much. The script of “No Hard Feelings” creates its own safe space, designed to do little more than let Maddie and Percy form a friendship in which they Help Each Other Grow. Jokes about finger traps, the spraying of mace, and a dog that likes cocaine are all less funny than examples of the movie trying too hard. Lawrence is looser and more rambunctious than she’s been in any film since “American Hustle,” and Feldman never seems less than an authentic 19-year-old. This young actor has presence, and an earnestness that makes it feel like he’s beyond fakery. But that works for the movie and against it. For all its handwringing about Generation Safe, “No Hard Feelings” presents Percy as a naïve and anxious but basically ordinary teenager who doesn’t really need to do anything but grow up on his own terms. It’s the film that’s trying to whoosh him forward. On some level it wants him to be as concocted as the situation in which he finds himself.

Reviewed at AMC Lincoln Square, June 20, 2023. MPA Rating: R. Running time: 103 MIN.

• Production: A Sony Pictures Releasing release of a Columbia Pictures, Saks Picture Company, Excellent Cadaver, Odenkirk Provissiero Entertainment release. Producers: Alex Saks, Naomi Odenkirk, Marc Provissiero, Jennifer Lawrence, Justine Ciarrocchi. Executive producers: Kerry Orent, John Phillips.
• Crew: Director: Gene Stupnitsky. Screenplay: Gene Stupnitsky, John Phillips. Camera: Eigil Bryld. Editor: Brent White. Music: Mychael Danna, Jessica Rose Weiss.
• With: Jennifer Lawrence, Andrew Barth Feldman, Matthew Broderick, Laura Benanti, Natalie Morales, Hasan Minhaj, Scott MacArthur, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Kyle Mooney.

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• Cast & crew
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No Hard Feelings

On the brink of losing her home, Maddie finds an intriguing job listing: helicopter parents looking for someone to bring their introverted 19-year-old son out of his shell before college. Sh... Read all On the brink of losing her home, Maddie finds an intriguing job listing: helicopter parents looking for someone to bring their introverted 19-year-old son out of his shell before college. She has one summer to make him a man or die trying. On the brink of losing her home, Maddie finds an intriguing job listing: helicopter parents looking for someone to bring their introverted 19-year-old son out of his shell before college. She has one summer to make him a man or die trying.

• Gene Stupnitsky
• John Phillips
• Jennifer Lawrence
• Andrew Barth Feldman
• Laura Benanti
• 575 User reviews
• 186 Critic reviews
• 59 Metascore
• 1 win & 10 nominations

Top cast 63

• Maddie Barker

• Percy Becker

• Allison Becker

• Laird Becker

• Hot Guy from Bar

• Gabe Sawyer, Surfing Lawyer
• Gorgeous Italian Guy

• Irate Bar Customer
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Did you know

• Trivia After hearing criticism about the fifteen-year age gap between the two main characters, writer and director Gene Stupnitsky pointed out there was a fifteen-year age difference between the characters played by Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook (2012) , but no one had an issue with that.
• Goofs In the scene where Jennifer Lawrence's character first comes out of her house while her car is being towed she is barefoot. Later in the scene she is wearing strappy sandals.

Maddie Barker : Do you want me to date him, or "date" him?

Laird Becker , Allison Becker : Yes!

Laird Becker : Date him!

Allison Becker : Date him!

Laird Becker : Date him hard!

Maddie Barker : I'll date his brains out!

• Connections Featured in OWV Updates: Multimedia Update (16/07/2023) + The First Poster from OWV Cinema (2023)
• Soundtracks Draggin' the Line Written by Tommy James and Robert King Performed by Tommy James Courtesy of Aura Records and Sony Music Publishing

User reviews 575

• 04GreatFlick
• Jun 17, 2023
• How long is No Hard Feelings? Powered by Alexa
• June 23, 2023 (United States)
• United States
• Vú Em Dạy 'Yêu'
• Montauk, New York, USA
• Excellent Cadaver
• Odenkirk Provissiero Entertainment
• Sony Pictures Releasing
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $45,000,000 (estimated)
• $50,452,282
• $15,002,770
• Jun 25, 2023
• $87,256,407

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 43 minutes
• Dolby Digital
• Dolby Atmos

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'No Hard Feelings' Review: Jennifer Lawrence Gets the Comedy She's Long Deserved

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Jennifer Lawrence is funny. I don't think that's too hard to argue. After her breakout roles in Winter's Bone and The Hunger Games , she became the talk of the town with her Oscar-winning role in Silver Linings Playbook . Lawrence won over our hearts with her down-to-earth personality, her blunt yet charming sense of humor, and her willingness to show, despite quickly becoming one of the biggest names in the industry, at the end of the day she's human. Her winning streak came to an end after a string of financial and/or critical duds with films like X-Men: Apocalypse , Passengers , mother! , and Red Sparrow . Then all of a sudden, Lawrence took a step back from the spotlight, got married, had a kid, and then returned to Hollywood with her leading role opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in the Oscar-nominated satire Don't Look Up , and just last year starred alongside Brian Tyree Henry in the acclaimed drama Causeway . Lawrence's career is impressive, but what's kind of shocking is that she has never starred in a true blue comedy. She's been funny in films before, but none of her roles ever really allowed her to show off her true potential as a comedy powerhouse. That has now changed with No Hard Feelings .

The story kicks off when Maddie (Lawrence), a native of Montauk, wakes up to find that her car is being towed by her ex-boyfriend Gary ( Ebon Moss-Bachrach ), which prevents her from making money from her gig as an Uber driver. Maddie has hit a rough patch in her life. After the death of her mother, she ended up staying in her hometown, living in the same house that she grew up in. She's mostly happy with that, except for the fact that the IRS is on her back, and rich vacationers are beginning to populate her home. After finding an ad on Craigslist where a wealthy couple ( Matthew Broderick and Laura Benanti ) is asking for a young woman to date their Princeton-bound son Percy ( Andrew Barth Feldman ) in exchange for a Buick Regal, she finds herself confidently waltzing into a Pet Rescue and attempting to seduce the 19-year-old. Percy is initially frightened by Maddie's aggressive flirting tactics, and Maddie finds Percy to be a bit of a loser. After all, his parents are promising to reward her if she takes his virginity. Of course, the more time the two spend together, a friendship begins to form, especially as they begin to learn vital lessons from one another.

RELATED: 'No Hard Feelings': Release Date, Cast, Trailer, and Everything We Know So Far

'No Hard Feelings' Has a Heart as Big as Its Laughs

The marketing for No Hard Feelings promises a no holds barred R-rated comedy full of in-your-face humor, constant innuendos, and f-bombs galore. While there is still plenty of that here, what sets this film apart from something like Bad Teacher is just how big of a heart it has. Yes, this is a film where a fully naked Jennifer Lawrence comically beats up a bunch of ne'er-do-well teenagers, but it also takes its time to make the audience become attached to the characters, relate to them, and actively root for them. It feels like something that would've played on the big screen ten years ago and that's not a bad thing whatsoever. Director Gene Stupnitsky gives No Hard Feelings the vibe of a modern-day John Hughes movie with the right mix of laughs, honesty, and sweetness. It's the kind of crowd-pleasing summer comedy that we haven't really had since Long Shot .

The story itself has that feel of American Pie meets There's Something About Mary , and, much like those films, it's about as predictable as they come. You can't fault the film too much for that either, there's really only so much it can do, and at times the more cliché nature works to its benefit. It feels like comfort food and that special kind of comedy that you'll want to watch over and over again. There are a couple of moments that show promise that ultimately don't go anywhere, including a brief subplot involving Percy and a more age-appropriate love interest named Natalie ( Amalia Yoo ), but by the time the credits' role those moments feel forgotten about. There are also moments where the jokes start to slow down, but fortunately, the film never loses track of its heartfelt center.

Jennifer Lawrence Is 'No Hard Feelings' Greatest Strength

It should be a surprise to absolutely nobody that Jennifer Lawrence's performance is easily No Hard Feelings ' greatest asset. The script, which was co-written by Stupnitsky and John Phillips , was clearly written with her in mind, and it's hard to see the movie working as well as it does without her there. Lawrence flexes her comedy muscles in both her dialogue and physical comedy, taking some bold swings with some of the things she does on screen, and it pays off extremely well. This might be Lawrence's best work since Silver Linings Playbook and that's because the film plays to all of her strengths.

Andrew Barth Feldman also shines bright as Percy, the young male lead. He pulls off playing an insecure and awkward college freshman in a way that feels authentic but also can go toe-to-toe onscreen with someone like Lawrence. The chemistry the two stars share is charming and even endearing at times. This is not in the sense that the audience will want to see them actually get together romantically, but because their onscreen friendship feels so natural.

The film's ensemble works well for what they're given. Matthew Broderick and Laura Benanti have some effective laughs as Percy's wealthy helicopter parents while Natalie Morales and Scott MacArthur help create some amusing back-and-forth scenes with Lawrence as Maddie's two best friends.

No Hard Feelings feels like the kind of movie that we don't get much of anymore. The R-rated studio comedy isn't nearly as prevalent on the big screen as it used to be, and that's a shame because this is the kind of film that shows what made some of those films so special and so rewatchable. Hopefully, this leads to many more comedic powerhouse performances from Lawrence.

No Hard Feelings opens in theaters on June 23.

No Hard Feelings

• Movie Reviews

• Jennifer Lawrence

No Hard Feelings Review: Jennifer Lawrence’s Bold, Raunchy Performance Can’t Save A Dull, Generic Comedy

No hard feelings too often leans on tropes to be effective and memorable..

Twenty years ago, comedy on the big screen was in the midst of a phenomenal moment. The success of Old School put a special spotlight on the stars who would become known as the Frat Pack – which led to successes like Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy , Wedding Crashers and Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story – and just around the corner was the rise of Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen , who would give us hits like The 40-Year-Old Virgin , Knocked Up , and Superbad . Every few months in the mid-‘00s, audiences were given the opportunity to gather in theaters and get sent into collective hysterics by a new big studio release, and it was bliss.

Release Date: June 23, 2023 Directed By:   Gene Stupnitsky Written By: Gene Stupnitsky & John Phillips Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Andrew Barth Feldman, Natalie Morales, Laura Benanti, and Matthew Broderick Rating: R for sexual content, language, some graphic nudity and brief drug use Runtime: 103 minutes

Now, that is an experience from which we are very much removed. Without the addition of a genre hook, theatrically-released studio comedies have somehow earned reputations as risks, and opportunities for movie-goers to gather together in theaters and laugh have become rare. It’s a sad state of affairs to say the least – and it makes it particularly disappointing to see a swing-and-a-miss like director Gene Stupnitsky’s No Hard Feelings : a film that has a lot going for it, particularly with Jennifer Lawrence as its lead, but one that too often leans on tropes to be effective and memorable.

Despite a fun based-on-a-true-story narrative, opportunity for some sharp commentary, and a bold comedic turn from a two-time Oscar winner, the movie can’t help itself from repeatedly utilizing tired narrative elements – rendering it consistently predicable and disallowing investment in the characters. Adding insult to injury, it’s never funny or clever enough to balance things out.

Co-written by Stupnitsky and John Phillips, No Hard Feelings centers on Maddie Barker ( Jennifer Lawrence ), an independent young woman living in Montauk, New York who, thanks to due back taxes, is on the verge of losing the house she inherited from her mother. Her only means of making the money she needs is working as an Uber driver during the tourist-heavy summer, but that plan falls through when an ex ( Ebon Moss-Bachrach ) comes around to tow her car. In order to keep her home, she needs a new set of wheels, and she discovers a way of getting some when perusing Craigslist and finding a post from a pair of worried helicopter parents (Laura Benanti, Matthew Broderick ).

Said parents are terrified of sending their intelligent, awkward teenage son Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman) off to college with limited social experience, and so they are willing to make a deal with a young woman. In exchange for dating the kid and taking his virginity, they are willing to sign over a used Buick Regal. Desperate and not having much in the way of sexual scruples, Maddie accepts the challenge, but she underestimates just how socially inept Percy actually is.

After starting strong, No Hard Feelings struggles to stay original.

No Hard Feelings hangs a lot on the comedic novelty of the beautiful Jennifer Lawrence ditching sexual subtlety and being reciprocated with rejection or extreme hesitance, but that conceit only gets the film so far. The ridiculously overt initial seduction attempt is good for a few laughs (conjured from a mix of innuendo, awkwardness and physical humor) as is a bout of nighttime skinny dipping that results in a bout of naked violence, but it’s not a bit that the movie can keep going for its full 103-minute runtime. It’s ultimately revealed as all special dressing for what is primarily a generic romantic comedy.

Stripped of its R-rated shenanigans and with a bigger age gap between the leads thrown into the mix, No Hard Feelings is revealed as a new swing at the same plot devices that were previously used for films like Can’t Buy Me Love , She’s All That , and Love Don’t Cost A Thing , and that means using a number of the same familiar story beats – all of which feel tired and boring. It’s not only frustrating to see worn clichés used blithely, but there are multiple instances where the natures of the characters are cast aside in the effort of creating “new” conflict (the worst offender being a scene where the cripplingly introverted Percy charismatically performs an impressive rendition of “Maneater” by Hall & Oates in the middle of a crowded restaurant). The movie starts well, but it devolves into familiar territory in the second act and never recovers.

No Hard Feelings has a talented cast, but it doesn't get the most out of it.

As is the case with just about everything she’s in, Jennifer Lawrence is the reason to watch No Hard Feelings , as she has both sharp timing and physical comedic instincts that help maximize a simple shot like Maddie getting around Montauk on a pair of roller blades. Andrew Barth Feldman additionally proves to be a find, as his charming gawkiness creates fun chemistry with his costar. Beyond the leads, however, the movie can be labeled underwhelming – not because of a lack of talent, but because of a lack of talent utilization.

In casting the film, Gene Stupnitsky brought a lot of funny performers aboard, but there is a shocking lack of effort represented in the work to try and make the characters pop or feel substantial. There are certainly opportunities to create memorable bits, like Zahn McClarnon playing Maddie’s lawyer, Kyle Mooney as Percy’s former nanny, and Hasan Minhaj cameoing as Maddie’s former classmate-turned-real estate broker, but the balance of comedy and exposition in their respective roles is far too tilted toward the latter. Natalie Morales and Scott MacArthur get the most to work with playing the protagonist’s best friends, but after a banter-filled introduction, they end up just being Maddie’s sounding board and nothing else. It’s a disappointing surprise in light of Stupnitsky past successes with talented ensembles, including TV shows The Office and Hello Ladies and the films Good Boys and Bad Teacher .

Similar to how big screen horror is currently having a significant moment, with audiences having a blast generating communal screams in cinemas worldwide, it feels like it’s only a matter of time before we see a resurgence with theatrically-released comedies… but No Hard Feelings isn’t going to be the feature that sparks it. It’s going to take a movie that’s fresh, inventive, and consistent to get that job done, and this one doesn’t have that energy. The film is funny in fits and starts and gives a lot of credence to Jennifer Lawrence’s comedic gifts, but it’s also too basic and familiar for its own good.

Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.

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No hard feelings review: jennifer lawrence's raunchy comedy is chaotic & hysterical.

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Since her career began in 2008, Jennifer Lawrence has starred in roughly 25 films. That none of them is an out-and-out comedy may come as a surprise to some. David O. Russell's Silver Linings Playbook is as close as Lawrence has gotten, but that film is laced with a melancholic tenderness that netted the actress her first Academy Award. Now, after stepping back from the spotlight and shifting away from franchise filmmaking, Lawrence is back and better than ever. Her latest film, No Hard Feelings , is a dual coming-of-age story hidden inside a raunchy comedy that, despite its faults, is both sweet and hysterical, with a chaotic performance from Lawrence that shows the actress can do just about anything.

Lawrence stars as Maddie Barker, a Montauk woman whose house — a prime piece of real estate in the beach-side vacation town — is under threat of foreclosure due to owed property taxes. When a scorned ex (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) tows her car, which also happens to be a source of income for her as an Uber driver, Maddie happens upon a Craigslist ad that could change her life. Offering up a Buick in exchange for dating their son Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman), Allison (Lauren Benanti) and Laird (Matthew Broderick) recruit Maddie to "date" Percy to prepare him for his upcoming tenure at Princeton, set to begin in the fall. Naturally, chaos ensues as Maddie attempts to woo the awkward Percy in all the wrong ways.

No Hard Feelings is sure to inspire discourse (this one will slot nicely next to the Age Gap discourse that has long dominated conversations about movies like Call Me By Your Name ), but those conversations will largely miss the point of what is a surprisingly sweet movie. Feldman, in his second major film role, serves as a worthy and empathetic counterpoint to Lawrence's jaded Maddie, and their chemistry, based on a platonic care for each other rather than anything that could be considered sexual, is something that blossoms nicely over the course of the film's run. No Hard Feelings posits itself as a no-holds-barred R-rated comedy, something more likely to be seen in the early aughts and that is rarely made now (especially with the star caliber of Lawrence at the front), but its coming-of-age undercurrent serves as a refreshing chaser to what comes before.

Fortunately, what comes before is properly hysterical. Lawrence may not have the comedic timing of some of her more seasoned peers, but she makes up for it in sheer confidence. Maddie is as brazen as she is airheaded and Lawrence sells both in the way only she could. Her performance stands in great contrast to her turn in last year's Causeway , a quiet drama where she starred opposite Brian Tyree Henry. It was already clear Lawrence had the range and the willingness to go there, but No Hard Feelings is such a drastic departure, and it's a treat to see her have so much fun, especially after turns in movies like Don't Look Up and Dark Phoenix.

It's Feldman who is the real star of the show, though. He plays Percy with a pitch-perfect mix of social awkwardness, meek curiosity, and slight disdain for Maddie's overt come-ons. It's a bit uncomfortable watching them navigate the early scenes of their courtship, but that feels wholly the point, and it culminates in some hilarious physical comedy from Lawrence involving a tight dress, mace, and a kidnapper van. That Feldman more than holds his own against a force like Lawrence makes you wonder if perhaps the film chose the wrong protagonist, but this ultimately becomes a fleeting thought in what feels like a balanced two-hander.

No Hard Feelings doesn't shy away from the absurdity of its premise (plenty of Percy's peers point out their age gap, with one character even calling Maddie "ma'am" in a moment that might have elicited the most laughs from my packed showing) and that makes it all the better. At a time when so many films are playing it safe and mid-budget studio comedies are strictly streaming fare, a movie like No Hard Feelings is a rarity when it shouldn't be.

No Hard Feelings debuts in theaters on Friday, June 23. The film is 103 minutes and rated R for sexual content, language, some graphic nudity and brief drug use.

No Hard Feelings

Facing the potential loss of her family home, a woman reluctantly agrees to go on dates with a wealthy couple's shy and socially inept 19-year-old son. As she navigates this arrangement, she finds the young man to be more difficult than anticipated, all while racing against the clock to save her home.

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No hard feelings, common sense media reviewers.

Raunchy, earnest comedy about fake romance; swearing, sex.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Genuine friendship can develop between two very di

Not many role models, but Sara and Jim are good fr

Main characters are White, but a few background ch

Percy sprays Maddie in the face with mace more tha

The movie's premise is that Percy's parents hire M

Near-constant strong language includes "f--k," "f-

Several brands/products are discussed or seen for

Maddie is a part-time bartender and is shown servi

Parents need to know that No Hard Feelings is a raunchy comedy about wealthy helicopter parents who hire a 32-year-old woman named Maddie (Jennifer Lawrence) to date and seduce their 19-year-old son, Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman), so that he can go to college with more confidence. Things get fairly crass as…

Positive Messages

Genuine friendship can develop between two very different people. Parents need to let their children grow and succeed on their own without micromanaging everything for them. Adults need to process their past trauma in order to keep moving forward. Subplot about need for affordable housing so that rich folks don't overly gentrify and push out locals in vacation towns or neighborhoods. Themes also include compassion and empathy.

Positive Role Models

Not many role models, but Sara and Jim are good friends to Maddie, and she's a loyal friend to them. The Beckers are loving if hovering parents who have to learn to let their son make his own decisions and mistakes. Percy is intelligent and kind, and wants sex and romance to mean something. Maddie has serious commitment issues but is a good friend to Sara and him and was clearly a devoted daughter to her late mother. She grows to truly care for Percy.

Diverse Representations

Main characters are White, but a few background characters are people of color: Maddie's friend and lawyer is Native American (Zahn McClarnon, who is Hunkpapa Lakota and Irish); Percy's classmate is Asian (Amalia Yoo, who's Korean, Puerto Rican, and Greek). Natalie Morales (who's Cuban) plays Sara, who's of ambiguous heritage. Two teen boys at a party call Maddie out for hurling a homophobic insult about them having sex with each other. The primary form of diversity in the movie is economic: Maddie and her friends are working- and middle-class "townies," while Percy and his family are rich summer people.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

Percy sprays Maddie in the face with mace more than once, causing her to bawl and fall down in pain. Maddie gets into a physical altercation with three drunk teens who play a prank by stealing Percy and Maddie's clothes while they're skinny-dipping. She punches and pushes them, and they hurt one another in the genitals. Maddie pushes her way through a closed door and pulls Percy out of bed with a woman. Quick glimpse of Percy playing a graphically violent video game. Percy and Maddie each jump on the hood of a car while it's moving. In one case, the car is nearly hit by a train; in the other, the car ends up in the ocean.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

The movie's premise is that Percy's parents hire Maddie to date and have sex with him as a way to get him out of his shell before college. Lots of sexual innuendo, overt propositioning. Maddie all but coerces Percy to go skinny-dipping, and there's a nonsexual scene with full-frontal nudity as she runs out of the water to physically confront the teens who've taken their clothes. Maddie offers to have sex with Percy, but he wants to wait; later, she wants to wait. Eventually they try to have sex (under the covers). In conversations, Maddie and her friend discuss all the reasons women have sex with men. Percy is found shirtless in bed with a girl.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Near-constant strong language includes "f--k," "f---ing," "f----r," "s--t," "a--hole," "d--k," "dumbass," "bitch," "goddamn," "ass," and one use of "c--t."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Several brands/products are discussed or seen for more than a brief glimpse, including Toyota, Buick, Tesla, Mercedes, iPhone, MacBook, Calvin Klein. Maddie identifies as an Uber driver and mentions the company several times. Craigslist is also mentioned a few times.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Maddie is a part-time bartender and is shown serving and prepping drinks. Adults drink at bars, meals, and get-togethers. Underage drinking: Older teens (17- to 19-year-olds who've just graduated from high school) drink to excess and "take pills" at a party. The pill in question turns out to be ibuprofen. Percy's parents let him have a glass of wine at dinner. Maddie and her adult friends share a joint and smoke regular cigarettes on a couple of occasions. A former K-9 dog is known to have gotten addicted to cocaine in the line of duty.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that No Hard Feelings is a raunchy comedy about wealthy helicopter parents who hire a 32-year-old woman named Maddie ( Jennifer Lawrence ) to date and seduce their 19-year-old son, Percy ( Andrew Barth Feldman ), so that he can go to college with more confidence. Things get fairly crass as the movie follows Maddie's attempts to earn her payment (a Buick sedan). Expect tons of sexual innuendo, conversations about sex, and flat-out propositions, as well as one sequence featuring Lawrence fully naked in a nonsexual context. Language is in nearly every scene and extremely strong, with dozens of uses of "f--k" and its variants, plus "s--t," "ass," "a--hole," "bitch," and one use of "c--t." Adults have drinks at pubs, dinners, and parties -- one party has excessive underage drinking. Thirty-something-aged friends smoke cigarettes and marijuana in a couple of scenes. Violent moments are mostly played for humor, including Percy spraying Maddie in the face with mace (more than once), physical fights, and characters jumping onto the hoods of moving cars. Set in the ritzy summer beach town of Montauk, New York, the movie also explores the tensions between middle- and lower-income "townies" and rich summer folks in vacation areas. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

• Parents say (13)
• Kids say (13)

Based on 13 parent reviews

NOT FOR KIDS

This is a movie on how to be a sexual predator.not funny., what's the story.

NO HARD FEELINGS is a broad comedy about Maddie Barker ( Jennifer Lawrence ), a 32-year-old woman from Montauk, New York, whose car is repossessed because she hasn't paid property taxes on the home she inherited from her late mother. Because she only has 90 days to make it right, Maddie is desperate to supplement her bartending income with her Uber gig -- but she needs a car. When her best friend Sara ( Natalie Morales ) points out a Craigslist ad offering a free Buick sedan to a woman in her mid-20s if she'll "date" the poster's inexperienced 19-year-old son before he heads to college, Maddie figures she's got little to lose. After a quick meeting with helicopter parents Laird ( Matthew Broderick ) and Allison ( Laura Benanti ), Maddie accepts the confidential gig and sets off to meet and seduce their virginal, introverted son, Percy ( Andrew Barth Feldman ), who volunteers at the local animal shelter. But Percy isn't the kind of guy who's interested in a one-night stand, and he's so alarmed at this beautiful older woman's assertive behavior that he maces her. Eventually, the two have more dates and get to know each other, causing Maddie to regret deceiving Percy.

Is It Any Good?

This is an uneven but amusing comedy about relationships, friendship, and first love. Lawrence, no stranger to playing down-on-her-luck characters, leans completely into her comedic wheelhouse to play Maddie, a commitment-phobe who's not a sex worker but is open to having sex with a younger guy in exchange for a car. After all, she needs the car to work, and she needs to work to make sure the bank -- and rich summer jerks -- don't get ahold of the house where she was raised. Lawrence's performance is buoyed by her chemistry with Morales, who also has finely honed comedic abilities. Feldman is believable as a neurotic, sweet, sheltered young man whose parents have hovered so much that they're misguidedly trying to oversee his love life. Percy and Maddie make an unlikely pair, but that's a big part of the comedy -- both in her context of a local pub and also in his, a swanky party with Princeton-bound seniors. Despite her beauty, there's no doubt that Maddie doesn't belong at a party with 17- to 19-year-olds.

Writer-director Gene Stupnitsky mixes the raunch with earnestness, but he doesn't fully commit to either style. The result isn't always effective, but No Hard Feelings manages to capture how two people with different backgrounds and levels of experience can still connect in a way that's not solely about the physical. Sure, the jokes are mostly sexual, but the story's heart is about relationship building, not some American Pie -style quest about virginity loss. After all, in this movie, it's Percy's parents who want him to get some, while he's looking for much more than a hookup. This isn't the sort of movie that demands a rewatch, but it's funny (and cute) enough to offer a unique twist on the stereotypical coming-of-age comedy.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about Percy's approach to sex and relationships -- versus Maddie's -- in No Hard Feelings . Which of them do you tend to agree with more? Why?

What's the movie's message about "helicopter parents" and parenting children over 18? Do you think Percy has a healthy relationship with his parents?

How does the movie depict drinking and recreational drug use? Are there any consequences for either, or both? Why does that matter?

Talk about gender roles in the movie. Why is a virginal 19-year-old boy considered funny? Would this story have worked if the main characters' genders had been swapped? Why, or why not?

How do characters demonstrate compassion and empathy ?

Movie Details

• In theaters : June 23, 2023
• On DVD or streaming : August 15, 2023
• Cast : Jennifer Lawrence , Andrew Barth Feldman , Laura Benanti
• Director : Gene Stupnitsky
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : Columbia Pictures
• Genre : Comedy
• Topics : Friendship
• Character Strengths : Compassion , Empathy
• Run time : 103 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : sexual content, language, some graphic nudity and brief drug use
• Last updated : July 18, 2024

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No Hard Feelings Review

No Hard Feelings

Yes, the plot of No Hard Feelings sounds inherently silly — girl is broke, girl needs car, girl makes deal with boy’s parents to take his virginity for the price of a Buick Regal (when has that ever, ever happened?). But underneath the C-bombs, wiener jokes and slapstick stunts, there’s an unexpectedly heartwarming tale of friendship, and what it means to grow up.

Whilst the set-up implies Percy is the one who’ll be learning the language of love from Maddie, quelle surprise , turns out they both have a lot to teach each other. Andrew Feldman impresses in his first major role, and is genuinely touching as the shy youngster; a rule-follower whose naivety is a product of his parents’ over-coddling, and who breaks out in anxious hives at the first sign of romantic intimacy. He’s a character of contradictions, however — the fact his parents would enlist help from Maddie in this way is a stretch to begin with, but to see Percy’s relative ease with her implies he’s not as socially inept as that deal believably suggests.

Jennifer Lawrence is a riot.

Let loose to be her most comedic self for the first time, Jennifer Lawrence is a riot. Her confidence is palpable, and she proves herself quite the physical clown — Maddie’s exploits include struggling to roller-skate up a hill, getting accidentally punched in the throat, and wrestling with would-be thieves whilst fully naked on the beach. She really commits, and looks to be having a great time while doing so. Her dramatic chops are showcased too, as Maddie’s growing connection with Percy sees her open up about her familial trauma and commitment issues.

With the exception of some one-liners that work entirely due to quality delivery from Lawrence and the cast, No Hard Feelings blows most of its funny moments in the trailer. There are farcical set-pieces throughout, but they don’t build up enough momentum to elicit a true belly laugh — more like a good chuckle. It’s enough to keep you interested, though, and a supporting cast including Natalie Morales and Scott MacArthur as Maddie’s surfer friends, plus a wigged-up, linen-sporting Matthew Broderick as Percy’s dad Laird (a name that inspires a genuinely funny exchange), help boost the laughs across the board.

The age difference between 19-year-old Percy and 32-year-old Maddie is undeniably icky, but it’s 100 per cent meant to be, and something the film constantly addresses — Maddie is frequently confronted by the generational gap between her and Percy’s peers, but her immaturity means she also often seems childlike by comparison. The film also gives us far more to chew on thematically than it actually needed to: Percy’s self-imposed isolation speaks to a very Gen-Z kind of anxiety; Maddie’s only in dire financial straits because of the gentrification of her hometown. There’s nothing surprising about how No Hard Feelings plays out, but it invokes some pretty nice feelings along the way.

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No Hard Feelings review: an R-rated comedy in need of more bite

“No Hard Feelings may not be the instant classic R-rated comedy that it had the potential to be, but it is a fun, refreshingly unapologetic alternative to many of this summer's family-friendly titles.”

• Outrageous lead performances
• A crew of scene-stealing supporting players
• Several laugh-out-loud, surprisingly bold sequences
• Disjointed pacing throughout
• An uneven mix of emotional sincerity and screwball debauchery
• An ending that's just a bit too sweet for its own good

No Hard Feelings is the type of movie that could prompt one to say something akin to “They just don’t make them like this anymore.” Anyone who describes the new, Jennifer Lawrence -led film in such a way will be undeniably correct, too. The movie is a mid-budget, R-rated studio comedy the likes of which have pretty much vanished from the current Hollywood market. Not only does it feel like it’s been years since a film like this has gotten a wide release in America, but it’s been an equally long time since a movie star of Lawrence’s profile and caliber has chosen to do some of the things in No Hard Feelings that she does.

If there’s one thing that can’t be said about Lawrence anymore, it’s that she’s afraid of taking risks. For years, the starlet seemed trapped in a mill of mediocrity that produced a number of phoned-in performances in equally lifeless films like X-Men: Apocalypse , X-Men: Dark Phoenix , and Passengers . Between her purposefully understated work in last year’s Causeway  and her go-for-broke, gonzo lead turn in No Hard Feelings , though, Lawrence has returned to a level of bravery and comfortability on-screen that makes it easy to remember why she briefly became the biggest actress of her generation a decade ago.

Together, she and No Hard Feelings director and co-writer Gene Stupnitsky make an entertaining case for why more R-rated comedies like it should be made and seen on a large scale again. What the film doesn’t do quite as successfully is make much of a strong case for itself as a worthy addition to the existing canon of R-rated comedy classics. It offers a fun time at the theater, no doubt, but it’d be a stretch to pay No Hard Feelings any higher of a compliment than that.

Inspired by a real-life Craigslist ad, the film’s plot follows Maddie Barker (Lawrence), a floundering Montauk native whose hopes of saving her mom’s house from being repossessed are dashed when the car she uses as a part-time Uber driver is towed away. Desperate to get back on the road, Maddie responds to a Craigslist ad created by rich helicopter parents Laird (Matthew Broderick) and Allison Becker (Laura Benanti, perfectly cast alongside Broderick), who offer to give Maddie a used car free of charge in exchange for her agreeing to “date” their socially reclusive son, Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman). In their first meeting, Laird and Allison make it explicitly clear what they mean when they say they want Maddie to “date” Percy and help him break out of his shell.

What follows is a vulgar comedy in which Maddie tries, to surprising difficulty, to get Percy to sleep with her. The film’s plot, along with its treatment of Maddie and Percy’s “relationship,” makes it feel like it could have easily fit in among the kind of horny American comedies of the 1970s and ‘80s. Of course, had No Hard Feelings been made 30 or 40 years ago, Percy’s sheepish responses to Maddie’s numerous, blatantly obvious sexual advances might not have been treated like the unsurmountable roadblocks that they are in the film. That is, for the most part, a good thing.

Despite the potential present in its premise, No Hard Feelings successfully avoids becoming simply a grating exploration or endorsement of male fantasy. The film is firmly rooted in the perspective of its female lead, whose brashness and unapologetic nature make her a suitable character for a performer like Lawrence. The Oscar winner’s confidence on-screen is on full display in No Hard Feelings , and the film’s best scenes are those that directly juxtapose her boldness against Feldman’s palpable awkwardness as Percy.

Following a necessary but slow first act, No Hard Feelings kicks into gear once it’s actually paired Lawrence up with Feldman. Maddie and Percy’s initial “dates” are when the film is at its most effective and screwball — highlights include an unfortunate use of mace on the part of Feldman’s socially inept high school graduate and a naked brawl on the beach between Lawrence and a group of idiotic teenagers. Lawrence’s willingness to literally bare it all in the latter scene cements No Hard Feelings ’ place as the first big-screen American comedy in quite some time that is, at the very least, willing to go further than most of the other, straight-to-streaming originals that have been made in recent years.

The film, unfortunately, doesn’t maintain the same manic comedic high in its second half as it does in its first. In its attempts to flesh out Maddie and Percy’s emotional backstories, Stupnitsky and John Phillips’ script forces No Hard Feelings to adopt an uneven pace throughout its second act that can, at times, become distracting. Although there are endless comedic possibilities present in a potential falling out between its two leads, No Hard Feelings also fails to deliver a final third that’s as funny as its first.

In addition to Lawrence and Feldman, Stupnitsky wisely fills out No Hard Feelings ’ cast with a lineup of heavy-hitting supporting players, including Broderick and Benanti as Percy’s overly caring parents and Natalie Morales and Scott MacArthur as a straight-shooting married couple who serve as Maddie’s closest friends and advisors. No one turns in quite as memorable of a minor performance in the film, though, as former SNL cast member Kyle Mooney, whose comedic chemistry with Lawrence turns his only two scenes into some of No Hard Feelings ’ funniest.

There’s an acidic touch to the sequences involving Mooney’s adult nanny, Jody, as there is in all of the film’s best moments. It’s to No Hard Feelings ’ own detriment that the film then decides in its last act to move away from the comedic ruthlessness of its first hour. The movie ultimately opts for a surprisingly sweet, occasionally saccharine conclusion, one that prioritizes its characters’ respective arcs over the many comedic swings it could take. To their credit, Lawrence and Feldman both sell the emotional realities of their characters, but Stupnitsky’s largely by-the-numbers direction doesn’t do much to elevate No Hard Feelings ’ duller sections — namely, its closing 10 minutes.

The result of these various highs and lows is a comedy that feels refreshingly unapologetic and bold, but also a bit too sugary sweet for its own good. Like so many modern American comedies, it lacks the unwavering edge to strike much of a lasting chord. They definitely don’t make them like this anymore, it’s true, and No Hard Feelings ’ funniest moments remind us why they should. All we can do is hope that whatever movies spring from its potential success manage to be just a little bit better.

No Hard Feelings is now playing in theaters.

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“The following actually happened,” insists the epigraph of I Love My Dad. For laughs and good measure, more words follow: “My dad asked me to tell you it didn’t.” Veracity is one major hook of this tenderly awkward cringe comedy from writer-director-star James Morosini, which tells a true story of such deeply misguided, debatably well-meaning parental deception that it being true only compounds the queasy fascination. Of course, the promise that everything you’re seeing is based on real events is also an invisible shield, isn’t it? No matter how much fictionalizing has taken place, stamping a story as true helps deflect any potential complaints about elements that ring false or might otherwise inspire skepticism. And I Love My Dad has a few of those.

To hear Morosini tell it, he was 19 years old when he fell for an elaborate internet ruse. The culprit: his father, dubbed Chuck here and played by the stand-up comic Patton Oswalt. At the start of the film, Franklin (Morosini as a younger version of himself) has grown so fed up with Chuck’s lies and excuses and general deadbeat inability to be where he promises he’ll be that he’s completely cut his divorced dad out of his life, blocking all methods of phone and social media contact.

Bodies Bodies Bodies, the new film from Dutch director Halina Reijn, may offer more than its fair share of mangled and bloody corpses, but its gnarliest moments have nothing to do with death or murder. Instead, the new A24 horror comedy ultimately cares less about the deaths of the characters it traps in its suitably spooky mansion and more about burning the images they have of themselves to the ground. Thanks to its ensemble of social media-obsessed Gen Z narcissists, Bodies Bodies Bodies’ decision to prioritize social death over literal death proves to be well-founded.

Over the course of its tight 95-minute runtime, the film sends its characters spiraling down their own rabbit holes of paranoia and desperation until there’s nothing left for them to do but blame each other for the difficult situations they’ve found themselves in. For that reason, Bodies Bodies Bodies tends to be at its best and most biting when it isn't operating as a standard slasher movie, but rather as a kind of nightmarish new take on Clue for the TikTok generation.

The first season of Amazon's The Outlaws had a bit of an identity crisis. Was it a serious thriller with silly characters or an ensemble comedy trying to be a crime drama?

Season 2 of The Outlaws has no such problem, and it delivers an increasingly tense, fast-paced conclusion to the lead characters' saga that's lighter on laughs but filled with strong performances and smart twists.

'No Hard Feelings' review: Jennifer Lawrence is the only reason to see film

"No Hard Feelings" hits theaters, shooting for the lowest bar.

"No Hard Feelings" hits theaters shooting for the lowest bar. Mission accomplished since it's a crude sex farce about a thirtyish woman who seduces a teen boy in exchange for a Buick.

But wait. It must be more than that. How else would Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence —Katniss in "Hunger Games" for Pete's sake— be persuaded to say, "this one's for me" and then agree to going full frontal on a beach while fighting high school kids who stole her clothes.

I'll tell you how. At its core, the R-rated "No Hard Feelings" is only playing at being dirty. Behind the carnal jokes lurks a Hallmark heart. Lawrence's formula movie is only fitfully watchable, but she can spin comic zingers like nobody's business and her frisky charm is irresistible.

It better be. Back in the day of Mrs. Robinson ("The Graduate") and Stifler's mom ("American Pie"), cougars were easy to play for laughs. But in this era of harassment policing, some viewers may want to call child protective services. Imagine the outrage today if a male star signed on to play a dude taking a payout to have sex with a virginal teen girl. The mind boggles.

"No Hard Feelings" has more problems than bad timing. Start with the script that director Gene Stupnitsky ("Good Boys") wrote with John Phillips, who gave us the immortally awful "Dirty Grandpa," a career nadir for another Oscar winner, Robert De Niro.

MORE: Review: 'Past Lives' is one of the best movies of the year

The story asks us to believe that Lawrence's character, Maddie, is desperate. Her salary as a bartender on Long Island's snobby Montauk won't pay the taxes on the house she inherited from her mother. And the car she needs as a summer Uber driver has been repossessed. If you think the filmmakers are tackling income inequality, you're at the wrong movie.

Maddie does answer an ad on Craigslist from a wealthy couple (Matthew Broderick, Laura Benanti) willing to swap their pricey Buick if Maddie can bust their shy, Princeton-bound, sexually inexperienced son Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman) out of his shell. He's 19—that's two years above the consensual limit in New York State.

Will you date him?" the parents ask. "I'll date his brains out," says Maddie, who agrees to keep the deal secret from Percy. Complications ensue when Percy mistakes her offer of a ride home for a kidnapping and he maces her right in the kisser.

.Wait, it gets worse. At a teen party, Percy accidentally punches Maddie in the throat. Then there's that naked moonlight swim when their clothes get stolen. Feldman works wonders with the impossible role of the most naïve teen on the eastern seaboard.

But the film's swerve into schmaltz is harder to swallow. See, Percy and Maddie never went to a prom—aww— so they dress up to visit a posh restaurant, where Percy turns piano boy and sings the hell out of "Maneater" as if he just won Hall and Oates night on American Idol.

MORE: Review: Wes Anderson's loopy, lyrical vision is alive and well in 'Asteroid City'

Where is this all going? You tell me. Stupnitsky is not without talent—his creative spark is evident in "The Office" and the current gem, "Jury Duty." And it's understandable that Lawrence would want to cut loose after the heavy dramatic lifting of "Causeway" and "Mother."

And cut loose she does. Lawrence is the only reason to see "No Hard Feelings. The rest gets a hard pass.

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No Hard Feelings

Review by brian eggert june 21, 2023.

In today’s hypersensitive social climate, a raunchy, foul-mouthed summer comedy in the vein of There’s Something About Mary (1998), American Pie (1999), or The Wedding Crashers (2005) is a risky prospect. Offend anyone, and the repercussions could be disastrous. Perhaps that’s why the R-rated summer comedy has been all but absent from movie theaters in recent years. What once saturated the marketplace has been relegated to the ether of streaming services, unable to tap into the zeitgeist as such comedies once did. No Hard Feelings attempts to correct that right down to the logline: Jennifer Lawrence stars as a down-and-out Uber driver who, desperate to save her house, agrees to help a 19-year-old man-boy out of his shell (i.e. sleep with him) as part of her deal with his parents to acquire a new car. Inappropriate humor ensues. But it’s not so inappropriate that it will offend anyone. It pushes no boundaries. It takes no risks. And in its attempts to be a crude comedy, it serves only an audience looking for safe entertainment. Sometimes, a moviegoer wants to be scandalized, but No Hard Feelings isn’t that kind of movie. 

Oh, sure, the movie boasts a few bawdy moments. At one point, a man sticks his penis into one end of a finger cuff, and then he asks Lawrence to keep her eyes close while he sticks her finger in the other end. Another scene involves Lawrence unleashing hell on a trio of drunk pranksters by assaulting them while nude. The double-entendre titled No Hard Feelings is also chock full of awkward situations between Lawrence’ s character, Maddie, and her adolescent-looking mark, Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman). Maddie puts herself in sexual situations with a legal adult who behaves like a child, stretching, but not stepping over, the boundaries of good taste. The setup comes so close to being about a 32-year-old woman and an underage boy hooking up—even though it isn’t—that the screenplay feels like it was once more risqué, but it was softened to avoid offending anyone. Then again, it’s also a classic scenario going back to Billy Wilder’s work on The Major and the Minor (1942) and Love in the Afternoon (1957), involving a May-December coupling, spliced with Failure to Launch  (2006).

Maybe if No Hard Feelings had been made in the 1980s, when movies such as Just One of the Guys (1985) and Can’t Buy Me Love (1987)—clear inspirations here—pushed boundaries of taste, the movie would’ve been more willing to take risks. But in their apparent attempt at a throwback comedy, director Gene Stupnitsky ( Good Boys , 2019) and his co-writer, John Phillips, aren’t ready to fully conform to the model of comedies from yesteryear. That, of course, is a safe play. Many of those comedies from 40 years ago contain scenes that probably should’ve been deemed inappropriate even then. Still, No Hard Feelings pulls its punches, making the result feel like it’s trying to serve two masters: socially sensitive viewers in younger generations and older viewers accustomed to bad-taste comedies—but more so the latter group. Note the soundtrack, which isn’t filled with modern hits but rather opens with Tommy James’ “Draggin’ the Line” (1971), uses Hall & Oates’ “Maneater” (1982) for thematic emphasis, and ends with “You’ll Accompany Me” by Bob Seger (1980).  

Most comedies of this ilk adhere to an established template, offering few surprises along the way. What makes them memorable are the specific performances and situations. No Hard Feelings offers a few tender moments between Maddie and Percy, with affecting performances by Lawrence and Feldman, but most of the jokes repeat themselves to dull effect. A running gag involves Maddie behaving in predictably sexy ways while Percy remains either oblivious or amusingly unsure of how to react. Other jokes seem to exist if only as setups for later callbacks, such as a sequence involving Maddie driving with Percy on the hood of her car, and then later, their roles reverse. Few of these jokes prompt audible laughs, apart from a chaotic scene where Percy declares, “We should get an adult.” Maddie reminds him, “You are an adult!” Less amusing are the remarks around Lawrence’s appearance, suggesting she looks like an old hag or a cougar in her thirties (she does not). And then there’s the clunky, groan-worthy finger cuff metaphor, signifying how Maddie can only move on from her life in Montauk by allowing herself to get close to someone. 

Admittedly, I saw a lot of myself in Percy. I was once like him—an isolated late-bloomer with a romantic streak who couldn’t casually hop into bed with just anyone. And while the movie’s portrait of arrested development in its various forms remains relatable, the comedy didn’t supply many laugh-out-loud moments for this critic. It was all amusing enough; however, I didn’t cackle uncontrollably as I did with some of the comedies listed above. But then, comedy is subjective, and you may find No Hard Feelings funnier than I did. At least Lawrence gets a chance to fold her no-nonsense public persona into an equally filterless character, which is a natural fit. Overall, the movie was never an affront to modern sensibilities, and it didn’t quite recapture the spirit of naughty comedies from yesteryear. It’s not actively bad, either—it’s just not the riotous summer comedy that one might hope for or expect. 

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No Hard Feelings (2023) Movie Review – An R-Rated comedy that wants to be PG-13

An r-rated comedy that wants to be pg-13.

In an era where comedy can be a tough egg to crack, No Hard Feelings seems to deal with that issue quite well. At its core, it’s a rom-com. But it sneaks in raunchy sexual humor that walks up to the line but never crosses it.

In it, Jennifer Lawrence plays a down-on-her luck bartender who’s never left her hometown as she resides at the house her late mother lived in. Her car is repossessed in the film’s opening moments, and she Ubers during the summer to make extra cash during tourist season.

In her search for a car and more income, she stumbles across an ad for a Buick, but there’s a catch. Whoever aspires to buy this car must take the owner’s son out on a date and, well, make a man out of him.

The premise is outlandish, and the film’s first twenty minutes are a bit of a slog as we get to know Maddie (Lawrence). However, we do catch a lot of subplots in the movie that pay off later. She’s on the wrong side of thirty; she’s played things safe; and now that’s starting to burn her a bit.

Maddie is a local in an upscale coastal town that is being overrun by wealthy seasonal tourism. She’s a hurt person, so you know when she takes the offer to “date” this boy, it is going to get rocky for her once the jig is up.

Andrew Barth Feldman plays Percy. The inexperienced nineteen-year-old who is on his way to Princeton in the fall. In any other comedy, Percy’s dilemma would strictly be about him losing his virginity, but this film wants the audience to focus more on his loss of interest in the outside world. He’s a good kid, but he seems cut off from connection and doesn’t seem to welcome change.

Feldman plays the character well and matches Lawrence’s unfiltered energy. The two get caught in absurd comedic moments together and then bring it down to earth with beautifully done vulnerable moments.

The film does give us great set pieces for a summer comedy. For one, there is the skinny-dipping scene, where Jennifer Lawrence does seem to bare it all as she chases down a gang of drunk rich kids who steal Maddie and Percy’s clothes. Feldman gets naked on the hood of a car in a chase scene with the cops, but as quickly as the film walks into over-the-top crude humor, it delivers on the wholesomeness of its characters.

Maddie is a hurt little girl inside from her father leaving her and her mother behind. Percy is an awkward teenager, but he’s also very talented. His rendition of “Maneater” by Hall and Oates on the piano is one of the most memorable parts of the film.

No Hard Feelings is uneven, but it’s not a mess. Scene by scene, you’re not sure if it’s going to be a Judd Apatow film or play it safe and swim in the waters of a Lifetime original movie. The humor isn’t knee-slapping but it is enough not to bore you.

Lawrence isn’t a physical comic genius, but she gives it her all in scenes where she’s getting pepper sprayed and bashing her head through a door. In the end, No Hard Feelings doesn’t stick it’s landing, but its message of compassion and kindness does keep it from crashing and burning.

Read More: No Hard Feelings (2023) Ending Explained

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Can You Watch No Hard Feelings Online Free?

By Shazmeen Navrange

If you want to watch and stream No Hard Feelings , here are all the streaming details.

No Hard Feelings is a comedy movie that centers around a woman in her 30s who is on the verge of losing her inherited house. To avoid that from happening, she accepts an unusual job offer. She agrees to become a girlfriend to a wealthy couple’s teenage son in exchange for a car. As the film progresses, she tries to push Percy out of his comfort zone. Gene Stupnitsky helmed the movie.

How to watch No Hard Feelings streaming online

You can watch No Hard Feelings via Netflix.

Netflix is an on-demand streaming service that offers you a wide collection of entertainment options that are available to watch anytime and anywhere.

In order to watch No Hard Feelings, make sure you have an account. To create an account, you can sign up on the official webpage and choose a preferred plan from the list. Then, choose a payment mode and proceed.

Can you watch No Hard Feelings online for free legally?

You can’t watch No Hard Feelings for free.

Netflix does not offer any free trial.

What is No Hard Feelings about?

No Hard Feelings follows Maddie Barker, a hardworking woman juggling two jobs as an Uber driver and bartender, but struggling to make ends meet. As she cannot pay property tax, she becomes bankrupt with her old car being taken away. Desperate for a solution, she comes across an unusual Craigslist ad from a wealthy couple seeking a girlfriend for their 19-year-old son, Percy. She accepts their job offer in exchange for a car and sets out on a mission to seduce Percy and make him date her. However, to her surprise, she learns that bringing him out of his comfort zone is more of a big challenge.

Shazmeen is an Entertainment Journalist at ComingSoon. She holds a degree in multimedia and mass communication, specializing in advertising, but her ardor for cinema led her into entertainment journalism. While her cinematic preferences know no bounds, she specifically has fondness for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, psychological thrillers, horror, and films with profound philosophical undertones.    

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The 15 Best Romance Movies of 2023, Ranked

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In the cinematic landscape of 2023, it has been an absolute delight to see the romance genre bloom with new life and nuanced perspectives across major studio productions, intimate indies, and many different streaming services. For as long as we can remember, we’ve sought escapism through colorful love stories that transport us past the real world to a place where compassion and kindness endure. Several great directors have delivered films filled with nostalgia for lost loves or different perspectives on contemporary ones, while other have progressively pushed the boundaries of love, romance, and desire.

As fellow appreciators of cinema’s power to celebrate love even in the darkest hours, we have rounded up this list of 15 titles from the year to exemplify why (and how) the romance genre retains relevance . But rather than just fleeting fluff, here's how we're choosing the films:

Our selection embraces complex tales of connection. These are movies that engage in stories of fully-fleshed, often flawed characters who navigate life’s curveballs together in the most tender, astonishing, or heartbreaking ways.

So, whether epic or intimate, these movies take you on a cinematic journey that celebrates love. Cue, 2023’s greatest romances!

15 No Hard Feelings

No Hard Feelings

Read Our Review

A feel-good sex comedy, No Hard Feelings follows a 30-something Maddie working as an Uber driver and bartender in Montauk, NY. With bills piling up and the risk of losing her childhood home growing more each day, she’s desperate to find a way out. So she accepts an unusual offer from a wealthy couple – to date Percy, their 19-year-old socially awkward teenage son, and bring him out of his bubble in exchange for a car. What follows is a series of misadventures which leads to Percy falling in love with Maddie.

J. Law's Outrageous Comeback

We love it when Jennifer Lawrence does that. Disappear for a couple of years and make a bangin’ comeback in what can only be defined as one of the raunchiest romantic comedies of the year. Right from the start, the film sets its tone as a saucy, charming, lighthearted summer flick, and carries it throughout. Whether it’s Lawrence taking her frustration out on a customer, or Andrew Barth Feldman playing “Maneater” in front of a restaurant full of people, there is a consistency to Gene Stupnitsky’s storytelling that makes No Hard Feelings equally sweet and sensitive.

14 Red, White & Royal Blue

Red, White & Royal Blue

Based on the novel of the same name by Casey McQuiston, Red, White & Royal Blue tells the story of how the first son of the United States falls head-over-heels for the spare heir to the British throne. Alex Claremont-Diaz and young Prince Harry hate each others’ guts. But when a public mishap forces them to spend time together and smooth out their high-profile lives, they develop a steamy romance.

A Saucy Romance That Redefines Stereotypes

Taking the beloved enemies-to-lovers trope and turning it on its own head, this recent LGBTQ+ romantic comedy by director Matthew Lopez became an astronomical success as soon as it premiered. The reason? Taylor Zakhar Perez and Nicholas Galitzine share an electric chemistry and an even better sense of humor, which anchors the story to legendary status. Uma Thurman’s charisma and likability is off the charts. Moreover, the movie explores the intricacies of love beyond social and cultural notions. It breaks down stereotypes and paves the way for a beautiful and powerful celebration of the one thing that binds us all together – love.

13 Love at First Sight

Love At First Sight

Hayley and Oliver are two strangers who accidentally meet on a flight from New York to London after Hayley misses her original flight and her phone dies, and she’s forced to spend some time in the airport lounge. They get to talking and fall in love with each other. However, once their flight lands, they lose touch at customs. Hayley proceeds to attend her dad’s wedding, and Oliver heads to his mother’s Shakespeare-themed memorial. But because destiny is funny, they meet again.

More Like, Love at First Flight?

Director Vanessa Caswil adapts this movie from a book, The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight , and like the source material, the film talks a lot about the statistics of suddenly meeting the person you’d want to spend your life with. Ben Hardy and Haley Lu Richardson make two instantly relatable characters, dealing with their struggles but not willing to dismiss the idea of romance. The jump scares from Jameela Jamil’s narrator may seem strange, but overall, Love at First Sight is a cheesy but smart and comforting rom-com.

Related: Netflix’s Love at First Sight: Most Heartwarming Moments, Ranked

12 Rye Lane

Following two 20-somethings who bond over their respective traumatic break-ups, Rye Lane is a movie that proves just how much wittier British rom-coms are . Yas finds Dom having a moment (i.e. weeping loudly in a public restroom), and thus begins their walk across Rye Lane Market. They engage in a conversation and immediately form a connection when Dom reveals the truth about his breakup with his long-term girlfriend Gia, who cheated on him with his best friend. Before you know it, Yas and Dom are cruising through South London, having an unforgettable day together.

A Colorful London Adventure

Through trippy wide-angle shots and fancy karaoke jitters, Rye Lane emerges as one of those stylish and beautiful directorial debuts that don’t go unnoticed. Raine Allen-Miller sure knows how to make the most of her setting, because the backdrops are just as colorful, energetic, and funny as the characters. Speaking of which, David Jonsson and Vivian Oparah are absolutely stunning as Dom and Yas, two young adults who are very communicative and charming. To sum up, Rye Lane is the London version of Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise .

11 Soulmate

A coming-of-age romance directed by Min Yong-geun, Soulmate chronicles the friendship between Ahn Mi-so and Go Ha-eun, two girls born in 1988. They met when they were only 11, when Mi-so moved from Seoul to Jeju island, when her mother abandoned her and she began sharing a home with Ha-eun. Their promise to never separate runs dry when Ha-eun falls in love with a guy from her class.

A Moving Tale of Love and Friendship

Soulmate begins as a tender story about childhood friendships. Even though Mi-so and Ha-eun share an astronomically intimate time, their bond is pure. But the way the movie depicts growing up is very authentic. We watch as the conversations between the characters become more distant and unhappy. Kim Da-mi and Jeon So-nee are incredible at showcasing the poignancy of adult life, displaying that even after 15 years, when life’s ripples are too agonizing, their love is just as striking.

10 Passages

Starring Franz Rogowski, Ben Whishaw, and Adèle Exarchopoulos in a love triangle of intense proportions, Passages tells the intimate story of a gay couple whose marriage goes through a rough patch when one of them begins an affair with a woman. Tomas is a filmmaker who isn’t afraid of expressing his sexuality. Martin, on the other hand, is much more reserved. When Tomas meets Agathe at a party and ends up sleeping with her, it forms a crack in their relationship and things snowball towards a passionate and suffocating end.

A Beautiful and Chaotic Journey of Love and Loss

Walking the same path as Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World but with more sexuality and positive representation, Passages is a fantastic reminder that there is nothing sadder in life than watching those you love walk away. Ben Whishaw is gorgeous as Martin, and Rogowski stuns as the unapologetically honest and incredibly sexy Tomas. From showing up in a mesh crop top to meet Agathe’s parents to falling down on his knees in her school corridor, we see him portray Tomas’ every emotion in full glory.

Related: Passages Writer-Director Ira Sachs on His Gripping New Love-Triangle Drama

9 Fair Play

Starting off unassumingly, Fair Play introduces us to Luke and Emily, a newly engaged couple who cannot seem to get enough of each other. Working at the same competitive hedge fund, they hide their relationship so as not to break company policy, especially while Luke is anticipating a promotion, which would ease things for the two of them. When Emily gets the same coveted position and the power dynamics shift dramatically, their relationship turns to something more sinister and unnerving.

Fair Play Is Delightfully Tense and Entertaining

Writer-director Chloe Domont crafts a confident story that isn’t afraid of cruising the very disturbing heights of power play. With both characters vying for control and dominations, it is fascinating to see just how increasingly repulsed they are by one another as success and failure fluctuate. Phoebe Dynevor and Alden Ehrenreich are fabulous in their roles. The tonal precision and tense pacing feels like a forever-tightening noose, leading up to the satisfying final scene , which truly is as wonderful as it is sharp.

Directed by Saim Sadiq, Joyland helps you experience and understand a traditional Pakistani family through the eyes of Haider, the youngest son. After being unemployed for several years, he finally lands a job as a backup dancer in a burlesque, hiding the news from everyone except his wife. In the meantime, he also finds himself drawn to Biba, the strong-willed transgender person leading the team.

A True Cinematic Masterpiece

There is so much more to Joyland than what meets the eye. With the help of its many characters, the film depicts the inner turmoil of the members of a family forced to conform to unspoken rules. Whether it is masculinity or femininity, its expression is forbidden. Ali Junejo may be the protagonist of the film, but as it progresses, Joyland shifts its focus to Rasti Farooq, Alina Khan, Salman Peer’s characters, because they too are struggling with autonomy and identity. Overall brave and mesmerizing, the movie is a must-watch arthouse drama.

From the mind of German director Christian Petzold, who found a place on the map with films like Barbara and Phoenix , Afire is a recent romantic drama that sees two friends, Felix and Leon, traveling all the way to the former's holiday home by the Baltic Sea to spend some time working on their portfolio and novel respectively. Once there, they realize they have company. A gorgeous young woman named Nadja, who is already living there and has no plans of leaving, soon grows close to Leon. With an ever-encroaching forest fire threatening their lives, they must navigate old friendships and new.

Subtle Situational Comedy with Heavy Notes of Romance

In his internationally acclaimed films, Petzold's muse was in actress Nina Hoss . Afire blesses him with two mesmerizing new leads, Paula Beer and Thomas Schubert, whose characters are more expressive and almost dreamlike than you'd imagine. As two mysterious and desperate people, it is fascinating to see how close they become. Moreover, with the contemporary setting and shooting style, it is impossible not to lose yourself in a story that doesn't dare to be tidy or direct.

Related: Exclusive: Afire Director Christian Petzold on His New Forest Fire-Laced Drama

6 Shortcomings

Shortcomings

Randall Park is making his directorial debut with Roadside Attractions and Imminent Collision's collaboration Shortcomings, based on Adrian Tomine's acclaimed graphic novel.

Shortcomings is actor Randall Park’s directorial debut, and despite being branded as a romantic comedy, it is nothing like you’d expect. It centers around Ben, a strongly opinionated Berkeley arthouse movie theater manager, who is beginning to see cracks in his six-year-long relationship with his girlfriend, Miko. When Miko moves from California to New York for three months to “take some time off,” Ben navigates life as a bachelor and comes to terms with his insufferable self.

A Movie That Wants You to Hate Its Protagonist

We’ve seen movies about unlikeable protagonists , met our fair share of “Bens,” and yet, watching Justin H. Min as the overly cynical, bitter, and self-centered boyfriend feels baffling. Paired with Ally Maki’s Miko and Sherry Cola’s Alice, Ben’s best friend, one can really see just how much Ben needs to change. Shortcomings takes the road-seldom-traveled approach by being a movie that’s not focused on giving its characters a happily ever after, but rather studying a deeply flawed person with the hopes that he becomes a little more self-aware. The film is ultimately light despite its grumpy lead and its subtle commentary on race and sex, and a treat to watch (especially with its really gorgeous actors).

Less cynical than his other films, Memory is Michel Franco’s recent romantic drama that stars Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard. Chastain plays Sylvia, a smart and sensitive social worker who notices a man following her home from her high school reunion. Skeptical at first, she approaches the man, finds out his name is Saul, and the fact that he basically has no memory . Saul’s teenage daughter insists Sylvia take care of him by spending time with him, which only leads to Sylvia fleshing out painful memories about her own past.

Peter Sarsgaard Will Break Your Heart

Franco proves just how brilliant he is when it comes to observational dramas. He allows Chastain and Sarsgaard a lot of room to make some quiet and other bold decisions, leading to outstanding performances of two broken people learning to get past their pain and embracing life. The film is beautifully crafted. From occasional silences to intense gut punches , its essence lies in the fact that it is a gorgeous love story of two people who find comfort in company and healing through their shared loneliness. Moreover, the open-ended finale sits right with the moody and melancholic tone of the film.

4 The Blue Caftan

An Arabic-language drama film directed by Maryam Touzani, The Blue Caftan centers around Halim, who has been married to Mina. Together, they run a traditional caftan in the old town of Salé, Morocco. The business is good, and with Mina’s illness, it gets increasingly difficult for the couple to manage the place by themselves. So they hire a new apprentice, and soon, faint traces of Halim’s closeted homosexuality begin to surface, causing cracks in their perfect relationship.

Delicate and Understated Gem About Acceptance

2023 has been all about exploring international stories and cultures, which has been made possible with films like The Blue Caftan . Just like its title, the film falls tenderly on your skin, with its soft edges feeling like they were made to comfort you. In its full glory, it is more than just a romance. The movie is the definition of multifaceted; it's funny in its look at relationships, sad in its examination of death as a slow and painful process, and hopeful (and sensual) as it defines sexuality as a celebration of love rather than loneliness or hedonism. The moments shared by the characters, despite being complicated, are full of acceptance. Maryam Touzani is a true master of expression and intimacy, and it shows.

3 Fallen Leaves

An oddly charming romantic comedy directed by Aki Kaurismäki, Fallen Leaves follows Ansa, a lonely supermarket worker living with a street dog (one she adopts somewhere in the movie) in Helsinki. After her shift, she sorts recyclable waste and heads back home to watch television. One night, she meets Holappa, an equally lonely alcoholic. Regardless of their own misunderstandings, they try to make something out of the tension present in the air every time they meet.

Rom-Coms Are Back

Starting off on an adorable and humorous note, where the guy first sees the girl from across the room, then loses the girl’s number and has no way to call her back, and then misses her by a fraction of a second several times, Fallen Leaves escalates in both melancholy and joy as it progresses. There are moments in the film that are humorous – like the fact that they’re watching a zombie flick on their first date, or that Ansa names her dog “dog” – that set an atmosphere of unseriousness. And yet, the very pronounced feeling of hopefulness the characters feel when they’re together, in contrast with their otherwise forlorn gazes, is what makes Kaurismäki’s vision so endearing.

2 Past Lives

Premiering at the Sundance Film Festival, Past Lives is Celine Song’s stunning feature directorial debut. It centers around Na Young and Hae Sung, two 12-year-old best friends living a carefree life in Seoul until they are torn apart when Na Young’s family decides to immigrate to Toronto and Na Young changes her name to Nora Moon. Over a decade later, they discover each other on Facebook and begin talking. They lose touch once again, and it’s not until much later, when Nora is already married, that Hae Sung visits the U.S. and spends a week with her and her husband.

Past Lives Is a Careful Dissection Of In-Yun

Past Lives delicately, humorously, and beautifully ponders over the nature of Nora and Hae Sung’s relationship. Are they friends? Lovers? Childhood sweethearts? Exes? Is their future doomed? We don’t know. What we do know is that they’re bound by In-yun, which is a Korean word that translates to ‘providence’ or ‘fate.’ Song’s exploration of life’s simplest questions makes you feel things viscerally. It's a philosophical and almost spiritual film without ever being too stuffy or intellectual, and perhaps leads to one of the greatest love triangles in film history.

Related: Past Lives: Breaking Down How the K-Drama Reinvents the Rules of Romantic Movies

1 The Eternal Memory

A Chilean documentary film directed by Maite Alberdi, The Eternal Memory tells the story of Augusto and Paulina, who have been together for 25 years. They were both integral, as citizens, to the cultural upheaval that occurred due to the atrocities of the Pinochet dictatorship. Eight years before the documentary was filmed, Augusto was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. While the symptoms were still manageable in the initial stage, we witness just how crippling it becomes when Augusto begins to lose his grasp on self-identity. Day after day, Paulina cares for him, wholly and tenderly.

The Eternal Memory Is Heartbreaking and Kind From Start to Finish

This film contains some of the most kind, wholesome, and compassionate displays of unconditional love to ever be put on screen. Suffering from Alzheimer's is difficult, but experiencing it second-hand is just as emotionally devastating, helpless to watch your loved one succumb. The Eternal Memory is a powerful film. What Paulina and Augusto share is rare, and it's so obvious and visible in their eyes and their smiles that they've come this far with each other, for each other. Director Maite Alberdi covers the glorious and the scary in equal parts, making you understand the full aspect of the disease. There's a quote from Augusto's book, which Paulina reads from towards the end of the documentary, that says, "Without memory, there is no identity," and that pretty much sums it all up. This is a film you'll never forget.

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Netflix’s “Hallmark” Movie ‘Find Me Falling’ Lacks Feeling Despite Set In Scenic Cyprus

Find Me Falling offers nothing to fall for, ironically.

To be frank, Find Me Falling is a Hallmark movie filmed in Cyprus. We’ve seen it all before: a man moves to a location to be alone, bumps into a new or old flame, and his entire perspective changes based on the feeling of love. 

There’s a slightly different angle to Find Me Falling , which is suicide, a theme the film enjoys planting a couple of jokes around. John, a failing rock star, has managed to secure a lovely tiny home at a cliffside in Cyprus, but he only got it cheap because it’s famous for people jumping off. He realizes that he’s sitting on a horrific tourist spot quickly, with the police only able to shrug at him.

Eventually, John bumps into an old flame, the one that got away years ago because… he got too successful. He didn’t have time for a wife. He only had time for sex, drugs, and rock and roll.

This is not a bad romantic comedy from Netflix by any means. Find Me Falling is scenic, and respects the culture of Cyprus, and once the romantic plot gets rolling, there’s something to aim for. I did find it strange that this is an English-language movie. It certainly stands out as such, but what’s weird is that it’s the primary language. You’d expect characters to at least speak Greek or Turkish by default, but maybe I’m nitpicking on a movie that is not that deep.

There’s no real meaning behind  Find Me Falling  apart from “Lost Love.” Is John a terrible person for enjoying his career and women? The film does not suggest so. Is he a failure for not being able to continue his music career? Again, there are no strong feelings to allow us to think that.

That’s the problem if anything: Find Me Falling has nothing for me to fall into. I did not feel anything, and I was not sold by the chemistry of the two leads. The Netflix film slightly suggests I should feel sorry for John or at least pity him, but if this is rock bottom, then I’d happily have this later in life. A beautiful cliffside, scenic home, beautiful food, nice views, and the glistening olive skin of the women I approach. 

I’m sorry. I got a bit carried away. I had more feelings after the movie than during it, so take that as you will about whether you should watch it.

• Find Me Falling Ending Explained

Article by Daniel Hart

Daniel is the co-founder of Ready Steady Cut and has served as Editor-in-Chief since 2017. Since then, Dan has been at the top of his game by ensuring that we only produce and upload content of exceptional quality and that we’re up to date with the latest additions to the streaming and entertainment world.

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What We Know About the Global Microsoft Outage

Airlines to banks to retailers were affected in many countries. Businesses are struggling to recover.

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By Eshe Nelson and Danielle Kaye

Eshe Nelson reported from London and Danielle Kaye from New York.

Across the world, critical businesses and services including airlines, hospitals, train networks and TV stations, were disrupted on Friday by a global tech outage affecting Microsoft users.

In many countries, flights were grounded, workers could not get access to their systems and, in some cases, customers could not make card payments in stores. While some of the problems were resolved within hours, many businesses, websites and airlines continued to struggle to recover.

What happened?

A series of outages rippled across the globe as information displays, login systems and broadcasting networks went dark.

The problem affecting the majority of services was caused by a flawed update by CrowdStrike , an American cybersecurity firm, whose systems are intended to protect users from hackers. Microsoft said on Friday that it was aware of an issue affecting machines running “CrowdStrike Falcon.”

But Microsoft had also said there was an earlier outage affecting U.S. users of Azure, its cloud service system. Some users may have been affected by both. Even as CrowdStrike sent out a fix, some systems were still affected by midday in the United States as businesses needed to make manual updates to their systems to resolve the issue.

George Kurtz, the president and chief executive of CrowdStrike, said on Friday morning that it could take some time for some systems to recover.

How a Software Update Crashed Computers Around the World

Here’s a visual explanation for how a faulty software update crippled machines.

How the airline cancellations rippled around the world (and across time zones)

Share of canceled flights at 25 airports on Friday

50% of flights

Ai r po r t

Bengalu r u K empeg o wda

Dhaka Shahjalal

Minneapolis-Saint P aul

Stuttga r t

Melbou r ne

Be r lin B r anden b urg

London City

Amsterdam Schiphol

Chicago O'Hare

Raleigh−Durham

B r adl e y

Cha r lotte

Reagan National

Philadelphia

1:20 a.m. ET

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