Like a magician with mad skills, No Hard Feelings pulls off a great sleight of hand. For those influenced by the plentiful trailers and expecting a ribald comedy, the film will surprise. It does have those risqué moments but it is so much more than that and actually leaves you properly impressed.
Jennifer Lawrence plays Maddie Barker, one of the few permanent residents in Montauk, New York. The town is a destination for New Yorkers with money to while away the idyllic summer months by the water while the locals tend to their every need.
Maddie, on the cusp of losing the house her late mother left her due to back taxes answers an ad to seduce the lonely child of a rich couple played by Matthew Broderick and Laura Benanti. This predictable premise (for a rom-com) is easily overlooked by what happens after the plan is put into play.
As the couple get to know each other you evolve in your assessment of said lonely lad Percy Becker (Andrew Barth Feldman). He goes from being an easy-to-dismiss geek into an adult with substantial value and several hidden talents. The transformation of both Percy and Maddie gives the film a depth and value not seen that often in the rom-com genre.
Rob Hudson
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