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To paraphrase the famous saying: Dying is easy; getting people to go to the theater for a comedy is hard. When did the communal feeling of seeing a funny movie go away? Maybe Jennifer Lawrence's star power in Gene Stupnitsky's "No Hard Feelings" can persuade moviegoers to share a laugh with each other again.

Even before our movie-going habits were upended in 2020, there seemed to be a movement away from comedies becoming go-to events for theaters. Last year, there were signs of hope that star power still had some draw ("The Lost City" and "Ticket to Paradise"), so now Lawrence's power is about to be put to the test.

Lawrence stars as Maddie, who is just trying to hold her life together after the passing of her mother. She works as an Uber driver, but she can't make money doing that when her car is being repossessed as the movie opens. She bartends on the side, but it's not bringing in enough money to save her mom's house. One day on a break at the bar, Maddie comes across a job listing from two parents looking for someone to give their son the life experiences he missed by being introverted in high school. Her friends Sara and Jim (Natalie Morales and Scott MacArthuer) try to convince Maddie that this sounds incredibly sketchy, but she doesn't listen.

Maddie meets with Laird and Allison (Matthew Broderick and Laura Benanti) to learn more about their son 19-year-old son Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman). Maddie is a bit confused; do they want her to date her son or date her son. Morally, they don't want to come right out and say it, but their answer is the latter. If Maddie gives Percy all the experiences his parents feel he needs before college, they will give Maddie a car.

"No Hard Feelings" works because Lawrence is a born comedic star. Her performance shows she has been itching to do a big R-rated studio comedy since she broke into film, and she relishes chance. She has shown she can be great in awards-friendly movies (she won an Oscar for "Silver Linings Playbook) and small independent films ("Winter's Bone" and "Causeway"), but she hasn't had a chance to be outright funny (though she is having the time of her life playing it big in "American Hustle"). Lawrence has every skill needed to be a great physical comedy star and hopefully "No Hard Feelings" isn't the last time we get to see her do it.

The movie is funny and frequently so, but the success hangs on Lawrence's chemistry with Feldman, who is a major breakout here. He goes toe-to-toe with Lawrence and in every scene is her equal in terms of timing and delivery. Some of the comedic set-ups fall flat because Stupnitsky (who co-wrote the script with John Phillips) is a better writer of dialog than bits (which was also true in his previous film "Good Boys").

The plot is inherently absurd, but Lawrence and Feldman find every way to make "No Hard Feelings" a great throwback to the raunchy sex comedies that once were commonplace. "Feelings" spins its wheels in the final act and stretches the story far too thin, but seeing Lawrence in this mode is worth every moment of the movie.