Your mileage may vary regarding the rather dubious premise of “No Hard Feelings.” Yes, it involves a pair of wealthy parents desperately putting out a Craigslist ad to get their trust-fund kid laid before he heads out to college. And, yeah, it’s hard to ignore that fact that the character of Percy (played by Andrew Feldman) sure seems to be playing on tropes that could be interpreted as being either on the autism spectrum, asexual, or any number of perfectly normal identities that really shouldn’t be stigmatized in the year of our Lord 2023. On the other hand, it’s also possible the movie remains well aware of these pitfalls and handles them with nuance. You never know! Either way, at least what we’ve seen so far teases a funny, star-driven, and definitely adult-focused movie that’s become all too rare lately.
“No Hard Feelings” comes from Gene Stupnitsky, the director of 2019’s similarly off-color (and downright hilarious) comedy “Good Boys,” who co-wrote the script alongside John Phillips (“Dirty Grandpa”). In addition to Lawrence as Maddie and Feldman as Percy, the film also stars Laura Benanti, Natalie Morales, and Matthew Broderick. It’ll hit theaters on June 23, 2023.
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.
