I was going to refer to Damsels in Distress as quirky. But in my lexicon, quirky has a positive connotation when applied to film. Lars and the Real Girl is quirky. And it was exceptional. Instead, I opted to describe Damsels as eccentric. The humor is different, but the film is more inane than unique. Of course, I laughed at times. But as a whole, Damsels in Distress is a rather mediocre film.
Violet (Greta Gerwig) is a needy, semi-popular, but evidently weird student at a small college campus. She is part of a trio of outreach students whose mission is to prevent suicide among their peers. Violet runs a suicide prevention office along with Heather (Carrie MacLemmore) and Rose (Megalyn Echikunwoke). The trio take a new transfer student, Lily (Analeigh Tipton) under their tutelage, inviting her into their inner circle. Lily has a streak of normalcy that the other three seem lacking, although it is possible that Lily may be the one who needs the most help.
The girls have a variety of missions that go beyond just providing donuts and coffee for suicidal students. They seek out frat boys that define average in an attempt to build their confidence. They have a unique approach to socializing, selecting boyfriends and interacting with other people. The interactions are delivered in drab humor that exposes the inanity of the underlying premise. In the process of growing together, the girls pursue their dreams, to include Violet’s pursuit of starting a dance craze, which ends up being a lame hat tip to Fred Astaire that probably had him rolling over in his grave.
I think Whit Stillman has a cult following. There are plenty of people that enjoy his wry humor, but I am not among them. While I admit that I laughed, I found the premise of Damsels in Distress to be boring and ridiculous. The dialogue was definitely original, the characters were defined with a decent depth and the concept was not bad. This film certainly held promise. The writing could not overcome the undercurrent of dullness that I felt while watching. It was alternately funny and tedious.
The acting wasn’t bad, all things considered. I enjoyed Tipton, who I hope to see more of. Gerwig had a truly difficult role. I did not care at all for her character, but found her performance to be adequate. I liked her, but despised her character…if that is possible. There were hints at Echikunwoke’s character being something other than appears on the surface, which added quirkiness that was never actually explored. Her character could have been further examined. Especially since her performance was enjoyable. MacLemore was barely visible, almost an afterthought, but she was decent in her limited role. The casting was decent, a mix of lesser known actors and actresses who did what they could with a tiresome script.
The PG-13 rating assigned to Damsels in Distress is a bit of a surprise. This film is fairly clean, although it does get into a bit of adult humor. However, that humor is secreted in innuendo that the viewer must interpret to appreciate. I think some of it would go over the head of a younger viewer. The film also examines suicide in a passing manner, looking at the subject matter in a somewhat comical light. The film deals with relationships, but I never felt that the material was heavy enough to warrant too much censorship. If anything, younger viewers will fall asleep out of boredom.
If nothing else, Damsels in Distress is different. It does not rely on typical trendy character portraits or girlfriend movie formulas to present a story. Instead, it is a unique, mildly funny girlfriend flick. It is nowhere near the class of Bridesmaids, which was both formulaic AND funny. The eccentricities of this film are, at times, tedious to watch. The situations feel forced and manipulated to create a modest amount of plot out of a rather thin storyline. The characters are the strength of this film, with decent performances in support. While I laughed, I would not necessarily recommend this film. I think it will find more of niche audience. But I am not among that niche. 5/10.
