I love a good comedy. What a bland phrase to say to start a review of a film. But I think what underlines that opening statement above all in this current film landscape, is just how rare such a thing is to find in the wild. Now I am not one of these people who will boldly state that we haven’t had a good comedy since the early 2010’s, because that would be deftly wrong. Nor am I the sort to then rebuff this comment by listing the many, many great comedies of the last ten years. However there is a middle ground in this debate that has to comment that without a doubt the studio comedy has taken a nose-dive in plentifulness, and regrettably for the most part I have found in quality. No Hard Feelings is a film that is far from perfect, but when it is strong is one of the more fun and effective comedies I’ve seen in a while. Tight, efficient and effecting – with all manner of raunchy innuendo intended.
I literally just for the fifth time this week had someone say to me “it’s a bit of a weird concept isn’t it?”. Well, yes. It is, by design. The plot consisting of a 32 year old uber driver down on her luck being offered the chance of a car if she dates a 19 year old in order to better prepare him for his impending college experiences. This is a raunchy and provocative little comedy that relishes in its ickiness and awkwardness rather than shying away from it…. Until of course it’s obligatory lacklustre third act which seems to be an unfortunate rite of passage for many a studio comedy, no matter how strong the first hour is and how that strength always leads one to hope for a perfect streamlined 90, not that it ever gets there. This gets oh so very close however and the run-time and pace of this film is particularly refreshing. I was certainly never bored and as I’ve already mentioned was thoroughly entertained for the first hour. Even the forced conflicts of the third act seem natural or interesting and original, making the whole thing feel as if it isn’t losing its steam, despite the fact it regrettably is. Gene Stupnitsky as a director and writer here (with John Phillips also credited on the script) really does manage to keep this film moving over and over again and it is in this respect that in many ways the second act feels more disappointing than actually bad, which it certainly isn’t by any means. It’s just not as good as the incredibly strong first half. Stupnitsky is a really solid hand here and the film also boasts a lot of visual creativity and not the reliance on flatness that predicates the majority of current fare. The film also balances nicely extended comedic sequences, normally more outlandish than the rest of the film, and a steady string of dialogue gags – the absolute overwhelming majority of which landed for me. No Hard Feelings was just so incredibly refreshing in many regards, it has to be said.
Above all
though the film is the most sensational of star vehicles for Jennifer Lawrence,
who is truly and so purely fantastic here that for my money at least it makes
one have glimpses of the mental conversation of why do we not award comedies
with performance awards as often as we should. Could this by hyperbole, perhaps,
however a few days have passed now and I just can’t help but feel as such. Lawrence
is so incredibly funny, believable, raunchy, daring and shocking here that the
film never even has a moment of losing grip on its undoubtedly risky premise. We
never once feel uncomfortable not on the films terms and we never feel like the
film is not wholly by design. Lawrence is also a producer on this film which
reeks of a star finally rationalising her greatest strengths and thankfully working
here with a writer and director here who can maximise them, No Hard Feelings
becomes the success it is. The film however wouldn’t work at all without
the counterweight of Andrew Barth Feldman who is similarly terrific and again, believable,
despite all the mania that surrounds the two of them. Their pairing and
connection does tightrope romance and friendship and all the ickiness and
surprising heart that you’d expect with a great tact. The film’s supporting
cast is similarly stacked with Mathew Broderick and Laura Benanti having fun
slightly larger supporting roles, however many actors such as Kyle Mooney,
Hasan Minhaj and Zahn McClarnon come in for brief very funny moments, with
Natalie Morales and Scott MacArthur filling out the cast with two more funny supporting
turns. Humour wise, to be honest, the film very rarely missed for me.
A terrific 7/10 that currently borders on 8 for me, I really did have that good a time here. The film’s first hour is genuinely for me note perfect, squandered by a slightly shabby second half. But the strength of the first half with its plentiful gags, effective set pieces and truly stellar performances and writing lends itself to a truly great time at the cinema. With one oft-commented upon scene that is built to tear down roofs and in a good crowd is bound to. Lawrence and Feldman are both sublime and this is with Lawrence’s performance one of the more solid star turns I’ve seen this decade so far.
P.S. This may be one of my hardest pivots on an actor that I have made in a while. When Lawrence is at her worst, she can be either incredibly dry or genuinely quite bad I have found, and yet now I want the world for her and find this to be genuinely one of the more electric and splendid performances of the year thus far. Go figure.
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Thomas Carruthers
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