No Hard Feelings (2023)

Rating: 7.8

Jennifer Lawrence was made for R rated comedies! No Hard Feelings is a return to the style of early 2000’s comedies… think 40 Year Old Virgin and Superbad! Not quite as raunchy as advertised… but when it’s funny it’s FUNNY! It also had an unexpected coming-of-age edge that made it quite heartfelt and sweet. Altogether… a great time at the movies! So much fun to laugh with a full audience!

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Film Info:

Premise: On the brink of losing her childhood home, a desperate woman agrees to date a wealthy couple's introverted and awkward 19-year-old son. However, he proves to be more of a challenge than she expected, and time is running out before she loses it all.

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Sony - Columbia Pictures

Directed by Gene Stupnitsky

Written by Gene Stupnitsky & John Phillips

Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Andrew Barth Feldman, Laura Benanti, Matthew Broderick, Natalie Morales

Runtime: 1hr 43min

Rating: 14A

Comedy

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IMDb Rating: 6.8/10

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 67%

RT Audience Score: 88%

RT Critic Average: 6.0/10

RT Audience Average: 4.3/5

Metacritic Score: 59

CinemaScore: B+

Letterboxd: 3.3/5

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Fun Fact: Andrew Barth Feldman delayed going to Harvard to star in this film.

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Review:

written by Tyler Park

It’s so nice to see a mid-range, hard R-rated, raunchy comedy movie that feels right out of the early 2000s coming out in theatres in 2023! I got so used to seeing these become mediocre streaming movies… but No Hard Feelings truly surprised me as a great comedy movie! And it’s an added bonus that I got to watch it in a theatre with a full audience and laugh alongside everyone! It was so much fun!

If you’ve been missing films like The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Superbad or Knocked Up in theatres… well this is the movie for you! When it’s funny, it’s FUNNY! Sure, overall it does have pretty standard comedy movie moments, some cringe bits, and maybe not the most potent narrative, but when it comes down to it, it does exactly what a good comedy needs to do: it does a good job at making you laugh! I do wish there were a few more laughs throughout as the movie played it safe at times; it never got as raunchy as the trailer advertised, but for what it was it still was pretty funny.

And I gotta say, the cast was pretty great. Jennifer Lawrence kills it — she should’ve been doing comedies this whole time! Not only is she an exceedingly talented actress, but she’s got such great comedic instincts too! I loved seeing her cut loose and embrace the ridiculousness of it all! She nails the movie and elevates it from a generic comedy that we’ve seen before to something a little more memorable. But the real surprise here was Andrew Barth Feldman, who postponed going to Harvard to star in a movie alongside Jennifer Lawrence! And he did a fantastic job! Not only did he have amazing chemistry with Lawrence, but he also had natural comedic timing and was really able to hold his own so well! Plus, not since Ed Helms in The Hangover have we had such a "Holy shit, that guy can sing!" moment in an R-rated comedy romp!

I really had a fun time with No Hard Feelings. Sure, it’s got a pretty standard comedy setup, but I’m glad we got to see it in theatres rather than at home on a streaming service! And it manages to tell a sweet, heartfelt story while also making us laugh so hard! I definitely recommend it if you’re looking for a good comedy flick, we haven’t had one this good in a while!

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Trailer: