No Hard Feelings: The Raunchy Jokes That Made It Tough For The Stars To Film

Going into "No Hard Feelings," stars Jennifer Lawrence and Andrew Barth Feldman were both fully aware that the material they'd be working with was more than a little risqué. Even then, there were still some moments within the sex comedy that pushed the bar too far.

In an interview with The Nerds of Color, Lawerence and Feldman discussed the recent Sony release. When asked what scenes made them laugh the most either while filming or seeing the movie, Lawerence recalls an especially shocking line that ended up getting cut. "There's one piece of dialogue, I don't even know if it's in the movie," "The Hunger Games" star says. "But I had to say, 'Easy, do you suck kids' d**** with that mouth?' It was really hard to get through, that might be why it's not in the movie, because I just couldn't say it without breaking." 

Additionally, both Feldman and Lawerence were fond of the jokes made during the bar scene about Percy's (Feldman) shorts, with Feldman adding, "And there were so many different versions of that, too." It's unclear if the other variations of this scene also got a bit too heated with its humor, but it wouldn't seem like too much of a stretch to imagine jokes of that kind finding their way in there. Despite some of the hardcore hurdles, the cast came through and committed to the film's extreme tone. But others have not been so easily been able to stomach what "No Hard Feelings" is attempting to communicate. 

While some feel that "No Hard Feelings" didn't go far enough with its provocative premise, others didn't find the sex comedy so funny. In particular, the film has come under controversy for potentially making light of grooming and manipulation. 

"No Hard Feelings," which tells the story of an out-of-work 30-year-old woman (Jennifer Lawerence) who is tasked by the parents of a 19-year-old high school senior (Andrew Barth Feldman) to date their son before he attends college, has seen its fair share of critics who were perturbed by the concept. Following the film's trailer release in April, Bust noted several problematic elements, such as Percy's parents setting him up without his knowledge and Maddie getting him to drink while underaged. Additionally, many of Maddie's actions throughout the film reflect the five stages of sexual grooming as defined by Psychology Today. 

Feldman, while not denying the controversy, doesn't believe that the film aims to glorify these notions in any way. In an interview with Independent, Feldman said, "I think we all had a sense that this is a controversial premise. But the film never condones the things that Jennifer's character does or that my character's parents do. This is a movie about flawed people and it's a cringe comedy. You're meant to cringe! You're meant to sit with those uncomfortable feelings." He added that they likely wouldn't have made the movie had they truly felt the idea pushed things too far.