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No Hard Feelings (2023 film)

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No Hard Feelings
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGene Stupnitsky
Written by
  • Gene Stupnitsky
  • John Phillips
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyEigil Bryld
Edited byBrent White
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed bySony Pictures Releasing
Release date
  • June 23, 2023 (2023-06-23)
Running time
103 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$45 million[2]
Box office$28.4 million[3][4]

No Hard Feelings is a 2023 American sex comedy film directed by Gene Stupnitsky from a screenplay he co-wrote with John Phillips. It stars Jennifer Lawrence (who also produces) as a down-on-her-luck young woman who answers a listing to date an introverted 19-year-old (played by Andrew Barth Feldman) in order to get him out of his shell prior to college. Laura Benanti, Natalie Morales, and Matthew Broderick co-star.

The project was announced on October 2021, when Sony Pictures Releasing and Columbia Pictures won a bidding war between Apple Original Films, Netflix and Universal Pictures. Lawrence joined the cast and produced the film with Stupnitsky attached to direct the film. Much of the cast joined in September to October 2022. Filming began in late September in various Nassau County locations in the New York City metropolitan area, before finishing the following November.

No Hard Feelings was released in the United States by Sony Pictures Releasing on June 23, 2023. It received mixed reviews from critics and has grossed over $28 million.

Plot

32-year-old Maddie Barker is an Uber driver and bartender in Montauk, New York. She is facing bankruptcy after her car is repossessed as she owes property taxes on a home she inherited from her mother.

Desperate to avoid losing the home, she accepts an unusual Craigslist posting. Her new employers, a pair of helicopter parents, ask her to "date" their 19-year-old son Percy in exchange for a Buick Regal. Percy has had no experiences with girls, drinking, parties or sex, and his parents hope to boost his confidence before he attends Princeton University in the fall.

Maddie attempts to seduce Percy at the animal shelter he volunteers at. However, after offering him a ride home, he mistakenly thinks that she is attempting to kidnap him and maces her. Despite this, they agree to go on a date the following day.

Maddie and Percy meet at a bar the next night and then go skinny dipping at the beach. While they are in the water, a group of drunken teenagers try to steal their clothes. Maddie fights them in the nude, frightening Percy, who demands to be taken home. When she tries to leave without him, he jumps on her car, naked.

As Maddie inadvertantly breaks the speed limit, they have to outrun the police as she'd otherwise lose her license. They get away by crossing the tracks right before the train passes. She and Percy attempt to have sex, but he develops a rash from his anxiety, so Maddie nurses him.

Maddie and Percy continue to date, sharing more about each other and forming a friendship. Both reveal that they never went to prom, so they imitate a prom night renting a limo and going to a fancy dinner. There, Madddie talks him into playing the piano, and he plays and sings Maneater.

Percy meets a school acquaintance in the restaurant who invites him to a party. After he and Maddie have a disagreement about their long-term plans, he goes to the party while Maddie searches for him. She finds him after he took an ibuprofen with alcohol, in bed with a girl.

The parents of the kid throwing the party throw Maddie out. As they leave in the limo, before they finally are going to have sex, Percy confesses his love for Maddie, so she says she wants to wait.

The next day Percy tells his parents he wants to stay in Montauk with Maddie. In a panic, his father offers her the car if she convinces him to go to Princeton. Percy inadvertently learns about Maddie's deal with his parents through bluetooth in his dad's car connected to his mobile.

After inviting Maddie to dinner with his parents, Percy crashes her Buick into a tree, they fail to have sex, and then he ends their relationship. Maddie takes the damaged car and uses it driving people to pay off her debts, and then decides to sell the house to her friends, Jim and Sarah, and move to California. She reunites with Percy at a Princeton mixer, where they promise to stay friends.

Later, Maddie drives Percy to Princeton, while she herself is on the way to California, and reveals that she adopted Milo, a former police dog addicted to cocaine who lived at the shelter where Percy had volunteered.

Cast

Production

In October 2021, it was announced that Sony Pictures won a highly competitive R-rated comedy package backed by producer-star Jennifer Lawrence and director Gene Stupnitsky over studios Apple, Netflix, and Universal Pictures for a theatrical-exclusive release.[7][8] Lawrence, Alex Saks, Marc Provissiero, Naomi Odenkirk, and Justine Polsky serve as producers while Stupnitsky co-wrote the screenplay with John Phillips.[8] In July 2022, it was reported that Sony would be moving forward with the film and engage in a theatrical release set for June 16, 2023.[9]

In September 2022, Andrew Barth Feldman joined the cast as the male lead,[10] while Laura Benanti and Matthew Broderick were cast as that character's parents[11][12] along with Ebon Moss-Bachrach joining the cast.[13] The following month, Natalie Morales and Scott MacArthur joined the cast.[14]

Principal photography began in late September 2022 in various Nassau County locations in New York, such as Hempstead, Point Lookout, Lawrence, and Uniondale. Ted's Fishing Station located in Point Lookout was made to look like "Montauk Dock East".[15] One month later, production shot scenes at the North Shore Animal League America in Port Washington.[16] Filming for No Hard Feelings concluded that November.[17] Its plot came from a real Craigslist ad sent to Stupnitsky by producers Provissiero and Odenkirk, with the former telling Lawrence about the story over dinner with her in mind for the role.[18] Mychael Danna and Jessica Rose Weiss composed the film score.[19]

Release

No Hard Feelings was released in the United States on June 23, 2023. It was initially scheduled to be released the week prior, on June 16.[9][20]

Marketing

The marketing campaign for No Hard Feelings began on March 6, 2023 when stunt advertisements reading "Need A Car? 'Date' Our Son" were released on billboards and newsstands across the United States, as well as social platforms such as Instagram, Reddit and Facebook.[21] A trailer for the film—which addresses the advertisements—was released to the public on March 9, 2023.[22] On April 24, 2023, an official poster featuring Lawrence and Feldman was released.[23] PopSugar noted that the labels above reading "pretty" and "awkward", sets up "what's sure to be the movie's central dichotomy".[24]

Reception

Box office

As of June 27, 2023, No Hard Feelings has grossed $18.9 million in the United States and Canada, and $9.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide gross of $28.4 million.[3][4]

In the United States and Canada, No Hard Feelings was released alongside the wide expansion of Asteroid City, and was projected to gross around $12 million from 3,208 theaters in its opening weekend.[2] The film made $6.25 million on its first day, including $2.15 million from Thursday night previews. It went on to slightly over-perform and debut to $15 million, finishing in fourth. Deadline Hollywood called it "a great start post-pandemic for a rare raunch comedy".[25]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 67% of 164 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6/10. The website's consensus reads: "This raunchy comedy often plays it disappointingly safe, but Jennifer Lawrence's comedic and dramatic chops ensure that the end result prompts No Hard Feelings."[26] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 59 out of 100, based on 48 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[27] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported 84% of filmgoers gave it a positive score, with 59% saying they would definitely recommend it.[25]

Tim Grierson from Screen Daily called the movie an uneven, but thoughtful sentimental story about insecure characters with good hearts.[28]

Controversy

Some commentators accused No Hard Feelings of promoting sexual grooming.[29] In an article for Bust written before the film was released and without having seen the movie, Carmella D'Acquisto wrote, "take a moment to think about if this film would be made if the genders were reversed. Can you imagine pitching a film where a 32-year old man was paid to groom and coerce a 19-year-old woman into having sex that she doesn't want to have? No one would make that movie. But it's presented as funny and quirky when a grown woman does the manipulating."[30]

In defense of the film in her review, Sophie Butcher of Empire wrote that the premise is supposed to be "icky" and that the film constantly addresses it saying "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."[31] Feldman, who plays Percy, said in an interview regarding the controversy that, "The film never condones the things that Jennifer's character does or that my character's parents do. This is a movie about flawed people and it's a cringe comedy. You're meant to cringe! You're meant to sit with those uncomfortable feelings." He also noted that the film normalizes "wanting to find love and connection," not the notion that it was pressuring young males to have sexual relationships.[32]

References

  1. ^ "No Hard Feelings (15)". British Board of Film Classification. June 8, 2023. Archived from the original on June 3, 2023. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  2. ^ a b Rubin, Rebecca (June 21, 2023). "Box Office: Jennifer Lawrence's 'No Hard Feelings'; Aims for $12 Million Debut, 'The Flash' Braces for 60% Drop". Variety. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
  3. ^ a b "No Hard Feelings (2023)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  4. ^ a b "No Hard Feelings". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Hipes, Patrick (March 9, 2023). "'No Hard Feelings' Red-Band Trailer: Jennifer Lawrence Gets A Job In First Look At Edgy Comedy". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 9, 2023. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
  6. ^ a b Moreau, Jordan (March 9, 2023). "Jennifer Lawrence Tries Everything to Sleep With a 19-Year-Old in Raunchy 'No Hard Feelings' Trailer". Variety. Archived from the original on March 9, 2023. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
  7. ^ Borys, Kit (October 12, 2021). "Jennifer Lawrence, Gene Stupnitsky Team for Sony's 'No Hard Feelings'". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on September 20, 2022. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
  8. ^ a b Murphy, J. Kim (October 12, 2021). "Jennifer Lawrence R-Rated Comedy 'No Hard Feelings' Lands at Sony Pictures". Variety. Archived from the original on September 20, 2022. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
  9. ^ a b D'Alessandro, Anthony (July 14, 2022). "Sony Dates Jennifer Lawrence R-Rated Comedy 'No Hard Feelings' For Next Summer". Deadline. Archived from the original on August 1, 2022. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
  10. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (September 15, 2022). "Andrew Barth Feldman To Star Opposite Jennifer Lawrence In Sony R-Rated Comedy 'No Hard Feelings'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on September 17, 2022. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
  11. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (September 27, 2022). "Laura Benanti Joins Jennifer Lawrence Sony R-Rated Comedy 'No Hard Feelings'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on September 27, 2022. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  12. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (September 27, 2022). "Matthew Broderick Boards Jennifer Lawrence R-Rated Comedy 'No Hard Feelings'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on September 27, 2022. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  13. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (September 30, 2022). "Jennifer Lawrence R-Rated Comedy 'No Hard Feelings' Adds Ebon Moss-Bachrach". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on September 30, 2022. Retrieved September 30, 2022.
  14. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (October 4, 2022). "Jennifer Lawrence Sony Comedy 'No Hard Feelings' Adds Natalie Morales & Scott MacArthur". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 4, 2022. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  15. ^ Lovece, Frank. "Jennifer Lawrence movie shooting in Hempstead Town". Newsday. Archived from the original on March 9, 2023. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
  16. ^ Bonfiglio, Briana (October 24, 2022). "Jennifer Lawrence Filming New Movie, No Hard Feelings, on Long Island". Long Island Press. Archived from the original on March 9, 2023. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
  17. ^ Shrestha, Naman (June 20, 2023). "Where Was No Hard Feelings Filmed?". The Cinemaholic. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
  18. ^ Huff, Lauren (May 12, 2023). "How a Craiglist ad inspired Jennifer Lawrence's No Hard Feelings: 'I died laughing'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 13, 2023.
  19. ^ "Mychael Danna & Jessica Rose Weiss Scoring Gene Stupnitsky's 'No Hard Feelings'". FilmMusicReporter. June 6, 2023. Archived from the original on June 6, 2023. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
  20. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (December 7, 2022). "Jennifer Lawrence R-Rated Comedy 'No Hard Feelings' Shifts A Week Away From 'The Flash'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 7, 2022. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
  21. ^ Impelli, Matthew (March 7, 2023). "Viral ad offering car to "date our son" sparks questions". Newsweek. Archived from the original on March 12, 2023. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
  22. ^ Guy, Zoe (March 9, 2023). "Helicopter Parents Seek Jennifer Lawrence to Seduce Their Introvert Son". Vulture. Archived from the original on March 11, 2023. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
  23. ^ DeVore, Britta (April 24, 2023). "Jennifer Lawrence & Andrew Barth Feldman Are Pretty Awkward in New 'No Hard Feelings' Poster". Collider. Archived from the original on April 28, 2023. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  24. ^ Gordon, Eden Arielle (April 24, 2023). "Jennifer Lawrence Gears Up For a Pretty Awkward Ride in the "No Hard Feelings" Poster". PopSugar. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  25. ^ a b Anthony D'Alessandro (June 24, 2023). "'Spider-Verse' Swinging Ahead Of 'Elemental' After Game Of Chicken; 'Flash' Edging Out 'No Hard Feelings'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
  26. ^ "No Hard Feelings". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved June 27, 2023. Edit this at Wikidata
  27. ^ "No Hard Feelings". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  28. ^ Grierson, Tim (June 21, 2023). "'No Hard Feelings': Review". Screen Daily. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  29. ^ Hampson, Laura. "No Hard Feelings is the new Jennifer Lawrence film being called out for promoting grooming". Glamour. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
  30. ^ D'Acquisto, Carmella. "Jennifer Lawrence Plays Sexual Groomer in "No Hard Feelings," Making Light of Coercion, Manipulation, Sexual Harassment and More". Bust. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
  31. ^ Butcher, Sophie (June 21, 2023). "No Hard Feelings Review". Empire. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
  32. ^ White, Adam (June 18, 2023). "Andrew Barth Feldman spent a whole summer being (badly) seduced by Jennifer Lawrence". The Independent. Retrieved June 22, 2023.

External links

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