“Nobody can know about this.”

No Hard Feelings asks one of the oldest and most universal questions posed to mankind: what would you be willing to do for a Buick Regal? For the 32-year-old Maddie (Jennifer Lawrence), a hapless and hot and basically helpless Uber driver who’s never really left her hometown, the answer comes as fast and easy as her eventual virgin target. Maddie just wants to earn enough of a living to pay for the family home she’s on the brink of losing. But that proves impossible on her own, which introduces her to new employers from a Craigslist ad from a wealthy couple who pay Maddie to seduce their son. No Hard Feelings is a throwback comedy to the times when funny was funny without having to play things safe for the sake of not disrespecting any group who might be triggered by a harmless joke. And while it’s not a great or very memorable film, it still leaves a mark. This movie has teeth and just enough of a bite.

The son in question is Percy Becker (Andrew Barth Feldman), a 19-year-old who’s fully prepared to coolly hide away in his room for the Summer before heading off to college. But his dad Laird (Matthew Broderick) and mother Allison (Laura Benanti) fear that their only child isn’t ready to leap from the nest; they are yuppy hippies, and they seem to know that the real world will shatter their porcelain cherub to bits. That’s where Maddie comes into play. After coming to an agreement with the Beckers, Maddie essentially throws herself at the jejune Percy time and time again, unbeknownst to him, and it creates a dynamic that makes for a few great comedic beats, especially when he pepper sprays Maddie only to find her begging him for a date through tears. Maddie doesn’t want to sleep with this younger man. Percy doesn’t know how to approach this older woman. And yet the two meet in the middle, and that’s where this movie is at its best. The raunch and the sentiment make for a pleasant cocktail.

So much of the film hinges on the performance from Jennifer Lawrence, and I’d argue it’s one of Oscar winner’s best to date. She is charming yet unlikable, appealing but gross, and isn’t afraid to go for broke or literally let it all hang out there. I’ve seen so many interviews with a variety of actors who claim that comedy is a vastly more difficult genre than drama, and if that’s the case, Jennifer Lawrence is a master of both. She always empathizes with her characters, and in this film she seems to be playing a version of herself that she’s actually been in real life. Maddie parties and is fun and fools around after late nights, but she also cares deeply. Lawrence is an honest performer, and she makes the person she’s playing feel of this world and not just of this film. Most of us have known a Maddie and Jennifer Lawrence embodies her heart and soul.

I didn’t entirely dislike director Gene Stupnitsky’s previous foray into the rated R comedy genre with 2019’s mediocre Good Boys, but I wasn’t impressed by it either. I’m not sure who that film was made for. Alternatively, No Hard Feelings is a positive step forward and a progression towards a story that can push the envelope but also remain deeply down to earth. And while it’s clear nobody on the creative side had the faintest idea of how to wrap this movie up with its rushed ending, No Hard Feelings still delivers a funny and thoughtful gift in a fumbled package, capping it off with a bow taped in the center. This is a movie about finding yourself with the aid of another, and how love can be shared through so many differing angles. I might even argue that it’s more enjoyable and relatable because it seems to be so refurbished. There’s a warmness that comes from the wear.

“People should see who you are.”

Rating: 3 out of 5