With every new thing we find out about No Hard Feelings, the more this movie looks cringe AF. Sure, Jennifer Lawrence looked very mother in the first on-set photos. But that’s where the appreciation for this movie stops. Because at the end of the day, this is a raunchy comedy about a grown-ass woman trying to date (seduce?) a 19-year-old boy by asking him about his weiner, kidnapping him, and giving him a lapdance.
The latest trailer for No Hard Feelings takes it up a notch with plenty of bombastic side-eye where she breaks into a room and aggressively asks if the girl in the room had sex with her charge (?) Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman). Oh and let’s not forget when she grinds down on him during her lapdance. When he feels uncomfortable, they switch it around and he bounces on her lap. And he looks like he’s not even in the room mentally because of how humiliating and predatory this is. It even feels like it’s bordering grooming. 🤮
For those who think I’m making a big deal out of nothing and that it’s just a movie. Let’s switch it up. Imagine if Lawrence’s character was a 32-year-old man and he was hired to sex up, date, and seduce an inexperienced 19-year-old girl. Just typing that up made me cringe so fucking hard. Because people would immediately call it out for being gross, predatory, and very much taking advantage of someone’s lack of experience for monetary gain. But because it’s an older woman in No Hard Feelings it’s suddenly ok cuz boys will be boys? No. It’s not ok. And no matter if the roles are reversed, respect is needed, including for young men.
No Hard Feelings also stars Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Matthew Broderick, Natalie Morales, Hasan Minhaj, Andrew Barth Feldman, and more. It’s directed by Gene Stupnitsky, who is best known for The Office and The Good Boys. It’s written by John Phillips, who actually worked on The Office and The Good Boys as well, and Stupnitsky.
Watch the official red band trailer for No Hard Feelings HERE because it’s age-restricted. Go figure.
No Hard Feelings hits theaters on June 23, 2023.
Well, I have not seen the movie, but I did watch several trailers. While I agree, a certain amount of predatory grooming can be construed from this movies premise if that’s where your mind is but generally, it’s more a matter of slap-stick comedy with a sexual theme. Everything I’ve read about it, including critiquing from teenagers, and parents is that there is no actual sex, and in the end, they actually understand each other and become friends. However, the end and the theme and the meat and potatoes of the movie. I will leave to my review after I watch the movie. But I did feel compelled to make a comment here.
Role reversal would definitely produce the eyebrow raising critique very similar to the one voiced here in.
Let’s change it up even more, what if it were an older man who was hired to educate a younger man? That would raise even greater condemnation.
However, coming of age themes, such as this, are not new. And with the evolution of sexual identity paradigms, I wonder if these themes aren’t going to go even deeper.
One can only wait and see.