No Hard Feelings showed plenty of potential to be THE R-rated comedy of the summer with it being led by Jennifer Lawrence and featuring a sex-comedy premise that played well in an incredibly funny trailer. For the most part, No Hard Feelings lives up to that potential through its strong comedic moments, performances, and even the story it provides, but does fall a little flat in its final act.

The film follows Maddie (Lawrence) – who is on the verge of losing her mother’s house due to increasing financial troubles and struggles to maintain a healthy romantic relationship. With few options remaining, Maddie takes a strange but lucrative request from a wealthy couple to date their awkward son Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman) so that he comes out of his shell before college. At first, Maddie struggles to seal the deal due to Percy’s sheltered nature. Eventually though, the two of them establish a connection they didn’t expect to make that sees their lives become more complicated and leads to unexpected growth.

A big part of what makes No Hard Feelings such a consistently funny sex-comedy is not only the wild raunchiness of its premise and unabashed R-rated execution, but more importantly, the commitment and openness of its performances and direction. Director Gene Stupnitsky is no stranger to R-rated comedies having co-written Bad Teacher and Good Boys – also directing the latter – so it’s no surprise that he’s able to confidently deliver adult-centric laughs. Not to mention, Lawrence and Feldman bring their A-game and excellently lean into their characters’ quirks. If they just phone in their performances and bring no real effort or care, this film wouldn’t nearly be as funny. Thankfully, that’s not the case and there are a lot of laughs to be had from the very beginning.

Maddie’s early attempts at being overly sexual and flirtatious with Percy blow up in her face and backfire in hilarious ways. Lawrence brings an incredibly relatable and genuinely funny persona to Maddie that makes her crudeness and playfulness endless fun. It’s always great when Maddie breaks character too and suddenly become frustrated when Percy just doesn’t do what she wants him to. Percy’s inexperience and sheltered life results in his awkwardness fueling a lot of laughs and turning normal flirting into total disaster. Maddie and Percy’s interactions and the shenanigans they find themselves in always manage to escalate in a satisfying fashion as well, and the performances easily build with it.

Along with Lawrence and Feldman being hilarious, they also manage to work well in making the growth and personal struggles of their characters more engaging and meaningful. Despite Maddie coming off callous and cold in her relationships and general mentality, there are warmer aspects that come from her as she opens up to Percy. The conversations around the growing presence of richer families give Maddie’s frustrations some depth and relatable roots since it’s a key reason that she struggles to keep her mom’s home. Maddie talking about family issues that continue to affect her also gives her character a strong heart and plays a great role in building a connective arc for her.

As for Percy, the film characterizes him well by making his awkwardness and romantic desires a deeper part of his character rather than a reflection of an annoying trope. Instead of Percy being that stereotypical nerd who finally loses his virginity and feels ashamed about it not happening yet, it’s easy to see that he’s partially okay with who he is. He values having sex with people that he genuinely loves and cares for over just a simple one-night stand and shows some admirable qualities of actually caring about people…and dogs, of course. Sure, he still wishes that he was more outgoing and is a victim of his parents’ constant nurturing of him, but Percy still manages to make his views understandable and be the person that Maddie didn’t know she needed in his life.

Honestly, there’s something really nice about seeing Maddie and Percy sort of learn from each other and find ways to help each other grow. Their intertwined arcs have a surprisingly lasting impact because of how sweet and relatable they are for audiences, and it’s great how things don’t come together cleanly. Their progress is fittingly messy in a way that’s funny, grounded, and fits their situation like a glove. Their relationship is definitely far from normal, yet it works towards resolutions for both of them that emphasize their personal growth well and show how impactful people can be on one another. Unfortunately, the film noticeably runs out of steam in its final act and, after a certain point, also kind of loses its appeal.

The story goes in a direction that doesn’t feel as strong as what leads up to it and becomes messy in a way that makes the narrative not as engaging. The jokes don’t land as well in the third act, and it feels like the film takes a step backwards in trying to up the ante in a fun way. There’s even a point where the weaknesses of the overall story and ideas start to show, and the film struggles to capitalize on some of the great thematic threads it establishes with Maddie and Percy in their arcs. That’s not to say that their stories become totally pointless or lose all impact, but it just feels like some parts and themes of their arcs, mainly Maddie, don’t come off as clear and end up being a little confusing with what it’s trying to say. The story still ends in a satisfying manner, but it just falters in a way that leaves things a little underwhelming.

Even with a faulty third act though, No Hard Feelings manages to be a highly enjoyable sex-comedy that sees Lawrence and Feldman be a hilarious duo on-screen and take viewers through a fun ride of wild antics that leads to great laughs at the theater.

Watch the Trailer Here: