No Hard Feelings

The title is indeed a double entendre in No Hard Feelings, an amusing romp dripping with awkwardness in almost every scene.

Combining the cheesiness of a conventional romantic comedy with the raunch of a coming-of-age sex farce, this sharp suburban satire provides some consistent laughs even if its central scheme progresses and inevitably unravels in predictable fashion.

For Maddie (Jennifer Lawrence), life as a rideshare driver on ritzy Long Island isn’t as easy as it seems. Her car is being towed — by her ex-boyfriend, no less — and her childhood home in Montauk is at risk of foreclosure.

Needing some quick cash, Maddie ignores the advice of her best friend (Natalie Morales) and answers a job listing from helicopter parents (Matthew Broderick and Laura Berlanti) seeking a date for their introverted teenage son, Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman), before he goes to Princeton.

The catch, of course, is that the youngster can’t know of the surreptitious agreement. But when the thirtysomething Maddie tries to pull her best Mrs. Robinson routine, she finds that reeling in Percy is more complicated than she suspects. Instead, the duo embarks on a wild summer adventure that changes both of their perspectives on relationships and the future.

The irreverent if thinly sketched screenplay co-written by director Gene Stupnitsky (Good Boys) unleashes a winning mix of quirks and one-liners. Yet beneath the broad surface gags is an incisive look at middle-class fragility within the gig economy.

Through its uneven stretches, the film is held together by appropriately uneasy chemistry between its leads as they navigate some dicey sexual tension while dealing with their own individual insecurities.

Their initial encounter is a highlight as it subverts meet-cute cliches at an animal shelter where Percy volunteers. “Mind if I touch your weiner?” Maddie asks while wearing a short dress and high heels as he nervously strokes a dachshund.

Lawrence showcases her versatility and comic timing with a charismatic and uninhibited performance that generates hard-earned sympathy for a woman whose desperation has compromised her moral compass. Feldman, whose background is in musical theater, conveys an endearing screen presence.

Even if the result appears tame compared to some of its throwback inspirations, No Hard Feelings seems practically groundbreaking in a cinematic landscape overrun with sequels and retreads.

Rated R, 103 minutes.