No Hard Feelings (2023 film)

No Hard Feelings is a 2023 American sex comedy film starring Jennifer Lawrence as a woman who is hired by a wealthy couple to romance their socially awkward son. The film is directed by Gene Stupnitsky from a screenplay he co-wrote with John Phillips. Along with Lawrence, who was one of the film's producers, the film stars Andrew Barth Feldman, Laura Benanti, Natalie Morales, and Matthew Broderick.

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$87.1 million[3][4]

The project was announced in 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 grossed $87 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 wealthy cryptocurrency investors known as the Beckers, ask her to "date" their 19-year-old son Percy Becker in exchange for a Buick Regal. Since Percy is shy and has had no experiences with girls, drinking, parties, or sex, his parents hope to boost his confidence before he attends Princeton University in the fall.

Maddie attempts to seduce Percy at the animal shelter where he volunteers. However, after she offers him a ride home, he mistakenly thinks that she is attempting to kidnap him and pepper sprays 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 refuses to have sex with her. When she tries to leave without him, he jumps on her car, naked, and they outrun the police. 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 themselves and forming a friendship. Both reveal that they never went to prom, so they imitate a prom night, going to a fancy dinner where Percy plays the piano. Percy meets a school acquaintance, Natalie, 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 with Natalie in bed, though nothing happened between them, after he took an ibuprofen with alcohol. After leaving the party Percy confesses his love for Maddie.

The next day, Percy tells his parents he wants to stay in Montauk with Maddie instead of going to Princeton. In a panic, his father offers her the car if she convinces him to go to Princeton. Percy inadvertently hears Maddie's deal with his parents. He invites Maddie to dinner with his parents, revealing that he knows about their deal. While Maddie and his parents argue over who told him about the deal, Percy crashes her Buick into a tree, heavily damaging it. When he returns, Percy tries to have sex with Maddie. After prematurely ejaculating during foreplay, a betrayed Percy ends their relationship.

Maddie takes the damaged car and becomes determined to pay off her debts. After Ubering for the remainder of the summer, she manages to save enough money to save her home and fix her car. Excited, Maddie tells her friends, Jim and Sara, but Sara asks Maddie if she really wants to stay in Montauk or is just doing it for her mother. The couple also admit they are moving out of Montauk to Florida due to housing costs. Maddie reflects on her life and tries to amend her wrongs. She reunites with Percy at a Princeton mixer, and apologizes for betraying him. Not convinced, Percy starts to drive off when Maddie jumps on the hood of his car. Unable to see, Percy crashes the car into the ocean. As the car is towed, the pair reconcile and promise to stay friends. Maddie decides to sell the house to Jim and Sara, and move to California.

Later, Maddie drives Percy to Princeton while on her way to California, and reveals that she has adopted Milo, a former police dog addicted to cocaine who lived at the shelter where Percy had volunteered. Maddie promises to call Percy during her entire drive to California.

Cast

Production

In October 2021, it was announced that Sony Pictures had 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. The film was initially scheduled to be released the week prior, on June 16.[9][20] It was released on digital formats, on August 15, 2023, with a DVD and Blu-ray following two weeks later.[21]

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.[22] A trailer for the film—which addresses the advertisements—was released to the public on March 9, 2023.[23] On April 24, 2023, an official poster featuring Lawrence and Feldman was released.[24] PopSugar noted that the labels above reading "pretty" and "awkward", sets up "what's sure to be the movie's central dichotomy".[25]

Reception

Box office

No Hard Feelings grossed $50.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $36.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide gross of $87.1 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".[26] In its second weekend, the film made $7.9 million, and a total of $11.3 million over the five-day Independence Day weekend. Its 48% drop considered "a very solid hold" in a post-COVID marketplace.[27] It then made $5.4 million in its third weekend, finishing in fifth.[28]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 71% of 221 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.1/10. 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."[29] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 59 out of 100, based on 50 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[30] 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.[26]

Tim Grierson from Screen Daily called the movie an uneven, but thoughtful sentimental story about insecure characters with good hearts.[31]

Prior to the film's release, some commentators accused No Hard Feelings of promoting sexual grooming.[32] In an article for Bust, Carmella D'Acquisto commented on the film's trailer, writing, "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."[33]

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."[34] 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 pressuring young males to have sexual relationships.[35]

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. 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. Archived from the original on June 21, 2023. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
  3. "No Hard Feelings (2023)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
  4. "No Hard Feelings". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved August 18, 2023.
  5. 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. 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. 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. 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.
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