Damsels in Distress (2012)

This is the long-awaited return of writer-director Whit Stillman, who we last saw with the delicious 1998's "Last Days of Disco" movie.

"Damsels in Distress" (98 min.) brings the story set at a fictional Northeast university in which a group of young women, namely Violet (played by Greta Gerwig), Rose (played by Megalyn Echikunwoke) and Heather (played by Carrie MacLemore) take a transfer student Lily (played by Analeigh Tipton) under their wings. The group is determined to bring a better life to students, running the Suicide Center (which they rename the Suice Prevention Center). Of course that is not counting for the guy troubles that may, and will, occur. One of those is a fellow named Xavier. There is a hilarious scene in which Lily tries to explain that Xavier is spelled with an X, when one of the other girls say that it is surely it is spelled with a Z, as in "Zorro", at which point Violet surmises that the letters X and Z are pronouned the same when not ending in a word, ha! Gerwig's performance pretty much carries this movie, as she shows her vulnerability and you can't help but rooting for her all the way.

This light and quirky tone never leaves the movie, and I found myself quite smiling a lot (but not laughing out loud). Truth be told, the "tone" of the movie is better than the actual plot (which I won't give away here, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out). In all, this is a quirky little but loveable movie. This is MILES away from your Hollywood standard fare, and if you are into such type movie, I would readily recommend this. Nothing earth-shattering, just plain likeable. In that sense, "Damsels in Distress" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

After reading reviews I thought this film would be much different than his others but now that I have seen it I think it was quite similar. It is critical, smart, interesting, and funny. Some of the dialogue is absolutely hilarious. Whit Stillman is the only filmmaker I know of that writes pretty realistic yet comic films about the elite. It is fascinating to me to see how these people think. This film, even more than his others, shows how sad and pathetic the people that run the world really are. Sure they are oppressing just about everyone on earth and their actions cause untold devastation and suffering yet they believe they are doing the right thing "God's Work". This is a scathing yet sympathetic critique of the American aristocracy. One would think this would be impossible but here it is. He really has matured as a filmmaker. This is his most complex and nuanced work yet. Also, as with most cutting edge art, this film will likely require repeated exposure for one to learn to really appreciate its brilliance. I look forward to many further viewings.

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I knew nothing about this director; this was a random choice of movie for me after seeing a preview. It's definitely quirky, ridiculous, and all those other adjectives people have used. You either like that or you don't, and maybe you like this version of it or you don't.

The first part got a little old for me and I did consider not finishing the movie but I'm glad I did. The characters and plot changed and evolved and I laughed and smiled more in the second half and found the ending charming.

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Whit Stillman helped start the great '90s indie boom that will be long remembered for bringing great talents like himself to the cinema world's attention. Few directors make such unique works and now he's back with "Damsels in Distress." The film, which is a college comedy of manners, is one of my favorite films of the year. The dancing, quirky dialogue and great cast made it a fun theater going experience. I was wondering if Stillman could still pull it off after all of these years and he did. A bit different from his earlier works, but still fits wonderfully in his canon. With "Barcelona" now over $100 on amazon, I may be buying 100 copies to use as a retirement plan.

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Director Whit Stillman hasn't made a movie in more than a decade, so I was looking forward to this, his fourth film. There are few writers who can assemble such thoughtful, provocative and articulate words together and at the same time, make us laugh. "Damsels" isn't one of those laugh-out-loud movies but one where you snicker, smirk, chuckle and maintain a smile on your face throughout the 99 minute playing time. With a fine cast led by atypical beauty Greta Gerwig as Violet, the film takes a while to find its footing.

Violet is a college do-gooder with suicide prevention her primary focus. She softly commands 3 others who join her effort. Violet is one of those individuals who somehow manage to tell the truth, or her version of it, no matter how it might affect someone. She does take considerable effort to minimize the hurt by use of her flourishing vocabulary. Violet and the girls aren't mean or vicious. They actually want to help the frat boys in spite of their bad smell, low intelligence and brutishness. In one scene, Violet breaks up with a short-term boyfriend from France after catching him with another girl. He had a strange religion which involves an "unusual" position for sex and as she tells him, "I couldn't respect any religion that worships on Tuesday."

After a short stent alone in a cheap motel, Violet discovers the wonderful scent of the complementary soap the motel provides. After testing the smell on her friends, she decides this could be transformative and supplies samples inside a package that the fraternity boys think makes for a great Frisbee. Violet has also been working on a new dance "sensation" that will ease depression, isolation and even suicide. The movie ends with the role out of the Sambola. This is a fun, unusual and easy to watch film.

The Blu ray edition comes in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio presented in 1080p. Watching this on a large display the transfer seems a bit washed out. It is not unusually crisp and sharp. I suspect this was intentional as the director wanted a smooth yet detail picture. It certainly didn't bother me. The audio is excellent with the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 delivering the mostly centered action. There is nothing that stands out as this is mostly a dialog heavy film. For whatever reason, the volume is lower than usual. I had to crank my receiver's volume up quite a bit.

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