Jennifer Lawrence – STREAMING MOVIE NIGHT

2023 Sony Pictures

Rated: R

Length: 1 hr 47min

Comedy ~ Romance

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Andrew Barth Feldman, Natalie Morales, Laura Benanti and Matthew Broderick.

“We are looking for an attractive, kind and intelligent woman, in her early to mid 20s, to “date” our son and bring him out of his shell before he leaves for college in the fall. In exchange, we’ll give you a clean, rust free, 40k mile Buick Regal, serious inquiries only.”

Jennifer Lawrence stars as 32 year old Maddie Barker. The Movie opens with her car being towed out of her driveway by an ex-boyfriend, who has a contract with the county to tow their seized property. She now has no way to continue her Uber job, which is how she makes her money for the year over the summer, driving the rich people around town that come to vacation at the beach town of Montauk, New York. She is behind on paying her property taxes and in danger of losing her Mother’s house she inherited and lives in.

Sara(Natalie Morales), Maddie’s best friend, sees an ad on Craigslist. The only true part of the movie(there was a real Craigslist ad that inspired the movie), the rest is fiction: “Need a car for college? “Date” our 19 year old son this summer. He is a wonderful young man, extremely smart, but socially very shy. He’s never had a girlfriend and we have tried everything. We are looking for an attractive, kind and intelligent woman, in her early to mid 20s, to “date” him and bring him out of his shell before he leaves for college in the fall. In exchange, we’ll give you a clean, rust free, 40k mile Buick Regal, serious inquiries only.”

Maddie decides to take the offer seeing it as a solution to her financial crisis. She agrees to meet with the parents Laird and Allison Becker(Matthew Broderick and Natalie Morales) and they hire her for the job of bringing their son out of his shell in exchange for the car. The next day she puts on a short dress and heels and goes down to the animal shelter where Laird and Allison’s son Percy(Andrew Barth Feldman) is working as a volunteer.

Maddie pretends to want to adopt a dog, completely hitting on a very nervous Percy throughout the process. She convinces Percy to let her give him a ride home. When they get to Maddie’s house Percy, being completely terrified that he has been kidnapped by a psycho woman and taken to her house instead of his, sprays Maddie with Mace. After Maddie screams at him that she was just trying to be a friend, he sprays her down with a garden hose to wash out the mace. Feeling really bad at spraying her with mace, Percy agrees to go on a date with Maddie the next day to get better acquainted.

I had my doubts in the very beginning of the movie when Jennifer Lawrence is on a comedic tirade about the reasons her ex shouldn’t tow her car away. It was a little cheesy right off the bat but it quickly grew on me, very quickly. I found myself laughing out loud shortly thereafter. And as hard as Maddie tries to seduce Percy, he tries even harder to resist. Which is one hilarious journey to watch as the two of them eventually start to have feelings for each other.

During their date, Percy sits down at a piano in the restaurant and plays Maneater(a song by Hall and Oates) at Maddie’s insistence. I was completely impressed by that. Awesome cover solo on a piano. Jennifer Lawrence is completely nude in a scene after the restaurant at the beach, where she convinces Percy to go skinny dipping. Amazingly enough she performs a scene completely nude kicking the crap out of three kids who try to steal their clothes off of the beach. I love this movie, thought it was great, especially after having my doubts in the beginning. The chemistry between Jennifer Lawrence and Andrew Barth Feldman is contagious.

A great romance comedy!

Highly recommended!

Two Thumbs Up!

2016 Columbia Pictures

Rated: PG-13

Length: 1 hr 56min

Sci-Fi ~ Romance ~ Drama

Directed By: Morten Tyldum

Starring: Chris Pratt, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Sheen, Laurence Fishburne, and Andy García.

“Say you were trapped on a desert island, and you had the power to wish somebody there with you. You wouldn’t be alone anymore, but you’d be stranding the person on the island. Would you make that wish?”

Chris Pratt stars as Jim Preston, a mechanic travelling aboard the Starship Avalon. He is one of 5000 Passengers and 258 Crew headed for the planet Homestead II as part of a colonization program. The ship is on autopilot and everyone aboard is in suspended animation sleep in hibernation pods during the 120 year voyage from Earth to Homestead II. The ship encounters a meteor shower and is damaged by a meteorite that gets past the ship’s protection shield. Jim’s hibernation pod malfunctions and he is wakened 90 years too early.

Jennifer Lawrence stars as Aurora Lane, a writer making the voyage to write a story about the voyage and the Planet Homestead II. Over the year Jim is awake alone on the ship he sees Aurora in her hibernation pod and becomes obsessed with her and her passenger profile video. After many alcohol fueled arguments with himself and a failed suicide attempt, he decides he is going to wake her up by making her pod malfunction.

What follows is the story of how they grow together and fall in love as they deal with being the only two people awake on a spaceship damaged by a meteorite for the next 90 years. With the exception of Arthur(Michael Sheen) the humanoid bartender they share their lives with and a brief appearance by Deck Chief Gus Mancuso(Laurence Fishburne) after his pod malfunctions, they share in an adventure of life, love and peril alone as they hurl through the heavens towards Homestead II.

I have seen this movie several times and love it. The chemistry between Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt is great. It’s as if you were right there with them through all they experience. An excellent Sci-fi Romance Drama!

Highly Recommended!

Two Thumbs Up!