Jennifer Lawrence’s new movie “No Hard Feelings” was released to theatres this summer. The release is daring for a time that has moved on from raunchy comedies, but predictions about this production hinder a change. The question is – Can Jennifer Lawrence bring back the old comedy genre?
When you think of raunchy comedies, you might be transported back to the early 2000s when Judd Apatow made a significant mark in the comedy genre with his delightfully excessive filmography featuring hits such as Anchorman, Superbad and Pineapple Express. And while these movies are some of the stand-alone classics that helped to establish the raunchy subgenre of comedies we know today, the world has moved on from this admittedly weed-soaked and humoristically ignorant genre of movies. However, as we move on from certain film types, it is usually replaced by another similar genre branch. But looking back on recent comedy releases, we have never even come close to replacing it with something that would reach these heights. Yes, every once in a while, we have come close with movies like The Hangover and Horrible Bosses, which become instant hits only a few years later. But regardless of a few occasional shooting stars in a spectrum that is a comedy, the overall progression within the genre has regressed.
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Recent releases like Good Boys and The Game Night scored high on reviews. They are achieving over 80% score on Rotten Tomatoes from critics and crowd alike. But despite this, they have gathered very little attention in the media and have yet to leave their mark on the industry. The need for more media buzz and proper advertisement around the movies most likely causes this. One thing that could change this is attaching the right star with a massive audience pull in the film, and that is precisely what the movie No Hard Feelings has done with Jennifer Lawrence.
Not only is Jennifer Lawrence, a calibre-level actress, but she has long enjoyed a widespread reputation in the entertainment industry, earning herself a reputation as a “cool girl”. Anything with her name attached automatically raises audience interest, and her track record with hit movies brings trust to other projects she is linked to. Therefore it can be speculated that this movie might be “the one” to bring comedy back alive in 2023, at least in the eyes of the mainstream.
No Hard Feelings is now out for the world to see, but it will take a moment until we manage to compose an idea of the general reviews. Although, the review scores are secondary to all the doors this movie unlocks just by coming out. Since this release is public enough to earn some leeway, other films of this nature can attempt to use this momentum and slide into our carefully curated watchlist filled with Oscar winners and critics’ choices and blow them out of the water with what I imagine will be an outrageously exaggerated banana slip and *splash*. Here’s hoping.