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Bad news for anyone who sold their Jennifer Lawrence stock at any point over the last few years: the Academy Award winner is back with a new R-rated comedy No Hard Feelings that seems certain to remind everyone why she became such a star in the first place.
Set to hit theaters on Friday, June 23, early reactions to the film (94% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes) indicate that it’s not only a return to form for Lawrence but a reminder of what the theatrically-released movie-star-led comedy genre can offer when done right.
The first reactions to ‘NO HARD FEELINGS’ are overwhelmingly positive.
“No Hard Feelings solidified Jennifer Lawrence as one of the few modern movie stars we have left.” pic.twitter.com/fdqPsLjJZq
— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) June 18, 2023
One scene that’s apparently caught the attention of fans is a scene in which Lawrence “was buck n*** and violently beats the s*** outta 6 people,” according to one person who saw the film.
Others have compared it to a comedic version of the scene from the David Cronenberg-directed, Viggo Mortensen-starring drama Eastern Promises, which is simply an insane sentence to type and one that single-handily makes me want to see this movie.
Saw the early screening and part of why No Hard Feeling rules is you can tell this is exactly what Lawrence wants from her career.
There's a fight scene I can only describe as "American Pie meets Eastern Promises" that had my audience screaming. Support original comedy! https://t.co/32HY6sRw7R— Ben Crew (@BenjaminCrew1) June 18, 2023
There’s a beach set fight sequence in the comedy NO HARD FEELINGS with Jennifer Lawrence that’s basically *this* (the bathhouse scene from Eastern Promises)
And I’ve never hooted and hollered louder at the cinema all year pic.twitter.com/FhZF0q1Zgy
— Sévérine Cox (@Le_Severine_Cox) June 18, 2023
In addition to Lawrence, No Hard Feelings — directed by Gene Stupnitsky, who also helmed the well-received 2019 comedy Good Boys — stars Andrew Barth Feldman, Laura Benanti, Natalie Morales, and Matthew Broderick.
Here is the official synopsis for No Hard Feelings, via Sony Pictures:
Maddie (Lawrence) thinks she’s found the answer to her financial troubles when she discovers an intriguing job listing: wealthy helicopter parents looking for someone to “date” their introverted 19-year-old son, Percy, and bring him out of his shell before he leaves for college. But awkward Percy proves to be more of a challenge than she expected, and time is running out. She has one summer to make him a man or lose it all.
No Hard Feelings marks Lawrence’s third film since 2021 (including Don’t Look Up and Causeway), as she previously took a few years off following the birth of her first child.
Given box office trends this year — movies like Asteroid City, M3GAN, and A Man Called Otto are overperforming, while projects like The Flash and Elemental are underperforming — there’s a chance that No Hard Feelings winds up being a happy little box office hit.
You can check out the official trailer for No Hard Feelings below: