Damsels in Distress

source: Damsels in Distress

I thought Damsels in Distress was a delight. I especially liked the humorous lines, as well as the dancing scenes. We have all waited a while for another Whit Stillman movie and this did not disappoint! I really liked the setting for the movie and the costuming--it made it seem rather timeless. The actors were very well selected and played their parts faultlessly. I love the fact that Violet is so real and shows her emotions, as do the other girls. They are very idealistic, but still like to have fun. The people who went with me to the movie all agreed that we left the theater in a jovial mood and we talked about the movie for over an hour after leaving the theater. I want to go see it again!

'DAMSELS IN DISTRESS': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five) Quirky teen comedy-drama about three college girls who run a Suicide Prevention Centre and offer words of wisdom and advice to troubled new college students while also trying to deal with their own issues. It was written and directed by Whit Stillman (who also helmed the eccentric comedies 'THE LAST DAYS OF DISCO', 'BARCELONA' and 'METROPOLITAN'). It stars Greta Gerwig, Megalyn Echikunwoke, Carrie MacLemore, Analeigh Tipton and Adam Brody. The movie is pretty aimless and slow paced but it's also always amusingly strange and whimsical. The story is set at an East Coast college named Seven Oaks where Violet (Gerwig), Rose (Echikunwoke) and Heather (MacLemore) attend. The college has a mostly male dominated tone, despite becoming coed several years earlier, and the women feel forced in to having to deal with brutish and dimwitted guys all the time. They run a Suicide Prevention Centre and are also constantly trying to recruit freshman girls in to their clique to educate them on the ways of the campus (as well as the world). This year's recruit is Lilly (Tipton). Lilly runs in to man troubles right away and the others try to help her deal with them while also dealing with their own. The movie has no real direction or strong character objective. It just kind of follows these young girls around as they struggle with adapting to life. It's slow and will bore the hell out of some viewers but others will be quite entranced by it (and others somewhere in between). I found the dialogue to be quite witty and funny and I loved all of the performances. I also really enjoy how quirky and in love with individuality the film seems to be. To me that's a great message to send young viewers (if they actually see the film, it might have missed it's target audience). The movie is a quiet little piece of cinema joy if you let it be. Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olADa6vEcMk

i like all whit stillman movies prior to this one. damsels in distress is very self-conscious and out of touch, sort of like woody allen's approach to directing twenty-year-old women, mixed with mamet at his least natural (oleana, which is still far, far better than this). the major part of the movie contains actresses reciting dialog they can barely handle with varying degrees of discomfort and musical cues that don't at all make up for the lack of emotional content. lots of uncomfortable spaces are left for the audience to laugh, and at the show i saw, nobody did laugh excepting a pair of women who were really forcing themselves to do so, which was yet another forced layer of this tedious and often risible movie going experience. while there are occasional moments that could have been funny if the delivery was there, a lot the comedy is very, very broad stuff with yelling and mugging/"funny faces." yeesh. at least noah baumbach can make a pretty good whit stillman movie these days.

There were several scenes that I enjoyed in the movie, including the ending. Anyone who has not seen this movie should go ahead and see it. I would have to say in my opinion that the ending was my favorite part throughout the movie. I just wonder if I will ever by able to take what I saw in the movie and imitate it in real life, which I would think would be really interesting. I now picture what it would be like if I were in that scene at the end. There was also a scene in the movie which looked like the one of the opening scenes in Reservoir Dogs. I also thought that scene was great as well. In fact, this movie is a really great film that is worth seeing.

I saw this film due to the fact that critical reviews were mostly positive, and I saw the trailer on a DVD I was renting, and it looked good. Boy, did I waste my time with this one. I watched it all the way through, although at about the 15 minute mark, I came close to turning it off. A ridiculous story that seemed like one giant inside joke which I was not a part of. The performances were terrible, including Greta Gerwig, Megalyn Echikunwoke, Hugo Becker and Ryan Metcalf. The only positive thing I will say is that assuming she's actually able to act, Carrie MacLemore will have the break-out career from this group of actors and actresses. I realize user reviews for each movie on IMDb are self-selective, and not representative of what's out there. That is, people who like a certain movie are more likely to write a review for a film that they like rather than if they disliked it or thought it was just average. But I am stunned that as of this writing, I saw only one other person who disliked this film. Don't be fooled by all the positive reviews...you'll thank me by avoiding this one at all costs.

Three mistakenly wise-beyond-their-years damsels seek to help those less fortunate — socially and intellectually less fortunate than themselves. All three are crazy, obviously, and Violet (Greta Gerwig) is book smart with a presumed air and affected way of speaking. "Damsels in Distress" is a comedy about depression, heartbreak, suicide, the education system, homelessness, linguistics, musicals, dancing and love. Every character is crazy, the film is too, but it's also hilarious. It can be hard to get into at first as your immediate thought will be, "nobody talks like that!" It's true, nobody does, except Violet. Violet's main goal is to help people while being completely oblivious to her own arrogance. Her first "rescue" is new student Lily (Analeigh Tipton) who's probably the sanest one around but Violet and her cohorts want to teach her how to talk, dress and become romantically interested in fraternity doofi (the plural of doofus). This takes place at Seven Oaks college which clearly exists in a different time and place. The colours are extreme. The opening credits are in bright pink letters on a bright blue background; bring your sunglasses. The girls are usually wearing '50s-styled sun-dresses, where as the guys (the doofi) are such morons that they haven't even learned the different colours yet (but they are hitting the books) and go chasing after rainbows. Sound a little odd? It is but it's exactly the quirky, silly humour on a fairly high level that indie film fans crave. There was one line that made me laugh out loud that is a biting indictment of the American education system; a handful of scenes criticize all religions (probably without them even realizing it); there are a significant amount of literary references which reinforces the college setting and erudite script. Filmmaker Whit Stillman is clearly well-read. I don't dare compare him to Woody Allen but I'm assuming he is an influence. The soundtrack is what makes it so joyful. There are retro songs that remind one of school-age days (think Aqua), but all have a classic romantic beat. It seems to be in direct contrast to the film's story so I was thinking something sinister was afoot. The damsels are here to help people, they want to find those that are depressed and make sure they don't commit suicide. There actually isn't anything more sinister, except the obvious that in fact the damsels that are in distress — romantic distress. "Damsels in Distress" is a bit more silly and dance heavy than the storyline, scholarly references and funny lines would suggest, but that's also what makes it more unique.

Metropolitan, Barcelona, and Last Days of Disco are three great movies. Damsels doesn't come close. What made the others work so well, besides the acting, direction, and sets, was the writing: Stillman managed to create characters who were also caricatures, cartoon figures who were also so real it boggled the mind, how he could balance the thin lines between parody, satire, and life.... Damsels is basically a pale imitation. The writing is flat, the dialog doesn't pop, and all in all, the characters remain caricatures. You don't care about any of them. There's not even a semblance of a plot. And there's a terrible enforced dance ending. It's generally true in movies that aren't musicals that, at the end, if all the director/writer can do is have them get up and dance, something is very wrong. The only thing that saves it at all is Gerwig's performance, which is pitch perfect. The others go nowhere, and no one cares.

I walked out of this movie after ten minutes. There were endless scenes of vapid young people engaging in pseudo-intellectual discussions. This movie lacks the "narrative drive" of "Barcelona" or "The Last Days of Disco." Those movies meandered, this one didn't get out of park. Aren't people supposed to get better at their jobs as they gain more experience? How is this filmmaker becoming more of an amateur? Most theater chains will refund your money if you leave early enough. Some give you fifteen minutes into the movie, some give you half an hour. IMDb says I have to make this review ten lines long, which is one line for every minute of this movie I could stand to watch. Made it.

Mean Girls' older sister that went to college, got an awesome biting, dry sense or humor; and got some wicked analytical skills to go along with it. This was just such an adorable and intelligent movie, both extolling the virtues of the undergrad experience while simultaneously panning it. At first, the movie may lose you with its irreverent randomness and quirkiness. Personally, I recommend at least one re-watch, to which it will become more clear and you'll be able to appreciate it more. This movie is one of those movies that has near unlimited replay value so that should be quite easy to do. Although nearly everyone was perfect in their roles, Greta Gerwig as Violet stands out. She's just pseudo deep in a sarcastic spirit that is tough to pull off while acting. The male characters are well done also but play in the background, which is actually kind of refreshing since many movies like this fall victim to sexism, or at least "boy craziness" of the presumably straight female characters. Overall, bravo, brava for this example of a deep, "slow-moving" comedy aimed at us young folk... not many like it these days.