In addition to her undoubted talent as an actress, which has earned her four Oscar nominations and one statuette, Jennifer Lawrence became famous around the world for her spontaneity and natural grace, qualities that made her one of the favorite stars of the Internet. That Lawrence can be very funny we already knew, but curiously, the actress does not usually lavish comedy with her work on the big screen. Yes, she has made dramas with plenty of humor, like ‘The Great American Scam’ or ‘The Bright Side of Things’, or satires like ‘Don’t Look Up’, but He had not thrown himself into the pool as the protagonist in a 100% comedy. Until now.
After the streaming premieres of the aforementioned ‘Don’t Look Up’ and the intimate drama ‘Causeway’, Lawrence returns to the big screen after a four-year absence (the last film he released in theaters was ‘Causeway’ in 2019) and He does it with ‘No bad rolls’, a raunchy adult comedy that’s quite the statement at this point in his career. Instead of orchestrating a comeback with a prestigious job tailored for awards season, Lawrence decides to let his hair down with one of those wild and politically incorrect comedies, which he seems to have simply decided to have a good time with and asks us to too. let’s do with it
‘No bad vibes’ is the new film as director and co-writer of Gene Stupnitsky, a filmmaker who knows a lot about irreverent comedy, since his filmography includes titles such as ‘The Office’, ‘Bad Teacher’ or the most recent ‘Chicos’ good’. In his new work, Stupnitsky proposes to us another sly festival of dirty jokes and earthy moments swallow me which provides Lawrence, who in addition to starring in it, participates as an executive producer, a vehicle for her absolute show off.
Lawrence plays Maddie, a woman who has lived her entire life in the summer town of Montauk, now overrun by the rich, who have skyrocketed the price of housing in the area. When, because of this, she is about to lose her house, Maddie decides to respond to the advertisement of some wealthy parents who They are looking for a girl who will hatch their introverted 19-year-old son, Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman), in exchange for a car.. Despite her age difference (Maddie is 32), Percy’s parents accept her and she begins to seduce the teenager to try to make him lose his virginity before the summer ends and he goes off to college.
With such an argument, it is surprising that ‘No bad vibes’ passed the script draft phase in these times, but Stupnitsky, Lawrence and Sony Pictures, the studio behind the tape, have decided to rush forward with all the consequences. ‘Without bad vibes’ is clearly one of the films that are no longer made, a return -intentional or not- to the comedy of the 80s and 90s, a reflection of a more lax society in terms of what is considered offensive today, and whose spirit Judd Apatow revived with his Rated-R comedies of the past decade. The film, which draws heavily from that cinema, takes its potentially problematic premise as its flag and waves it proudly as if to say “Yes, the film is about this, what’s up?” And although in theory, this impudence can be refreshing, and even groundbreaking at times, in practice it does not take long to fall into the safe and routine.
And it is that, behind that so classic plot of youth cinema of the 80s, which defies the moral court of 2023, in reality there is no truly transgressive or vindictive purpose. The film is not capable of saying practically anything beyond a provocative idea that does not finish taking shape and out of tune with the attempt at a social message with which Stupnitsky unsuccessfully tries to imbue it. That’s where, what could have been an update of a genre put to the test by changes in society, as it was ‘Super nerds’ or even ‘Departed in the university’, ‘No bad vibes’ remains a joke green no more.
What we have here are two films fighting against each other without ever making it clear which one wants, or should prevail. ‘No bad vibes’ seeks to shock, but not too much. She intends to blush, but without going over the line. He has a bad mood, but then he wants to be one of those comedies with heart and soul and ends up playing too safe. And the different elements just don’t fit together. To begin with, because a tone is not clearly established to start from, jumping from one scene to another with different types of comedy, in addition to a hugely inconsistent rhythm that is also reflected in the characterizations, with characters that change personalities from one sequence to another and seem to be, as we said, in different movies. None of them especially funny.
Lawrence and Barth Feldman, a duo with heart
The main claim of ‘No bad vibes’ is to see Jennifer Lawrence “like you’ve never seen her”. The truth is that the Oscar-winning actress shows us here a facet that she had not fully explored until now and that puts her in situations that completely remove her from her comfort zone. Lawrence rush here a hypersexualized and deeply imperfect character that seems like a way to claim what is his after a media overexposure that led many to turn against her and, above all, after the horrible violation of her privacy that was the leak of intimate photos that she and other public figures suffered in 2014.
But for some reason, the actress doesn’t seem entirely comfortable in the role. She’s not in bad company, as Feldman mirrors her beautifully. Building a character not far removed from Evan Hansen (whom Barth played on Broadway), the young performer establishes a dynamic with her that begins in the most embarrassing and questionable way, but ends up developing organically, and even endearing, despite be constrained by the inevitable twists and turns of a rather formulaic and predictable plot. Together they star in scenes designed to test the viewer, moments of absolute “cringe”, sometimes funny, sometimes just plain unpleasant., which will cause many to put their hands to their faces and others to cry out to heaven. For not going into detail about a certain quite shocking sequence that will be talked about a lot on the networks (save this: the fight on the beach, very strong).
But in general, ‘No bad vibes’ falls far short of saving the Rated-R comedy, which is not going through the best moment at the US box office. Although there are good isolated moments, as a whole it does not finish taking flight, among other things due to a production that, instead of hiding the shortcomings of the script, Lawrence’s nerves in the role and the lack of comic “timing” in the dialogues, it underlines everything, making gags that don’t work even worse. His inconsistency is also reflected in a personality split that goes through criticizing the woke culture while embracing it or wanting to be a light product to disconnect and, simultaneously, a social comedy with important themes such as gentrification and the economic gap, bullying, anxiety or trauma.
In ‘Sin malos rollos’ there are glimpses of a good crazy comedy, without restrictions or fuss. When she manages to completely uninhibit herself, Lawrence shines in her craziest and most exaggerated side, and when she has to humanize her character, she also succeeds, because above all, she is a great actress. Feldman brings the necessary tenderness and forms a good duo with her, together finding the heart of the film and bringing the story to fruition with a correct ending (which has merit, considering how risky the approach is). But in the end, the confusion with which she is formulated, the tonal inconsistency of her and a plot that does not know how to balance its rowdy and coarse facet with its emotional aspiration They mean that, more than entertaining without complexes, ‘Sin bad rolls’ provokes only uncomfortable laughter.
5
The best: For how questionable the premise is, it doesn’t resolve the plot badly and it has a good ending. He excels in physical comedy.
Worst: It lacks grace and rhythm. His personality split and strange changes in tone. He doesn’t know what kind of movie he wants to be.
