Jennifer Lawrence’s new comedy has caused a huge backlash online, with many criticising the movie for allegedly encouraging grooming.
The actress is set to test her comedy skills in her latest on screen appearance, which sees her seduce an “un-f***able” nineteen-year-old, so it’s understandable why some have been put off…
Ever since she rocked onto our screens as leading lady Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games back in 2012, she has been a mainstay of our screens. This is by no means the defining role of her career, though — she went on to win an Academy Award for her performance in Silver Linings Playbook, and was nominated twice more for American Hustle and Joy.
Since then she has starred in a whole host of incredible movies, such as Mother, Red Sparrow, Passengers, and her most recent Netflix hit Don’t Look Up.
But recently, it appears Lawrence wants to lean into the comedy genre, and the trailer for her latest R-rated comedy movie No Hard Feelings looks like we’re in for a barrel of laughs.
J-Law will portray Maddie, who, following a contentious breakup with her boyfriend, is in desperate need of money and a car.
Without these, and in danger of losing her childhood home, she responds to a peculiar Craigslist post from a couple seeking someone to “date” their reclusive and “unf**kable” 19-year-old son Percy in order to help him open up before he departs for college.
In addition to Lawrence, the movie will also feature a number of other actors, including Natalie Morales (Dead To Me), Hasan Minhaj, Kyle Mooney (Saturday Night Live), Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Bear), Scott MacArthur, and others. Andrew Barth Feldman will play Percy, and Matthew Broderick and Laura Benanti will play his parents.
Her co-star Ebon Moss-Bachrach recently opened up about the upcoming film to Awards Radar, saying: “I think Jennifer Lawrence is really goofy in this movie, in a way that she hasn’t been in the past.
“The movie reminds me of some ‘90s comedies I really used to like. I don’t want to misrepresent the movie, but there were elements which reminded me of the Farrelly brothers, or Something About Mary.
“There’s a decent amount of physical comedy, and Jennifer Lawrence is very committed to it. It was a very funny set.”
After learning about the new movie, many fans have taken to social media to share their thoughts on the premise of the film.
And it seems that a lot of people have a problem with the idea of a grown woman trying to seduce a teen.
One tweeted: “First, I adore Jennifer Lawrence, so don’t start. But a thirty-two-year-old woman getting compensated to ‘date’ and ‘date hard’ an eighteen-year-old boy?
“All with the okay of mom and dad. I wonder if it’d be just as ‘funny’ if it was a 32-year-old man and an 18 year old girl.”
While another commented: “Yeah if the roles were reversed and it was a 19 yr old daughter, it would be weird if her parents paid some 30 yr old man to ‘date’ her.”
“I feel like a movie about grooming a 19-year-old kid isn’t the feel-good hit it would have been a few years ago,” a third echoed.
Another agreed: “Agreed, but how old is the character? It’s not unusual for actors to play much younger characters. If she’s 25 and he’s 19 it’s still questionable (the way the whole premise of the movie is questionable) but a lot less so.”
No Hard Feelings comes out on the big screen on 23 June, will you be watching?
