Featured Audience Ratings

• Spencer S

  
  Two people who are no better suited to work together. Independent filmmaker and actress Greta Gerwig and legendary script writer and director Whit Stillman unite for his first film in thirteen years, and his first recognized film in some twenty. Both of them have been delightful in… More
  Two people who are no better suited to work together. Independent filmmaker and actress Greta Gerwig and legendary script writer and director Whit Stillman unite for his first film in thirteen years, and his first recognized film in some twenty. Both of them have been delightful in most films they make, and as both of them linger in the obscure, young, and bourgeoisie, it's only fitting that they came together and made a film together. What's kind of baffling is why Stillman is coming back to films now, and why he decided to make this film of all things. At least in his coveted and award nominated "Metropolitan" he was speaking about a kind of people that actually existed, who he as a young man had met. Those people were as strange and high minded as some of the characters here, but they had an element of greed, naiveté, and true agency. This is definitely of a completely different element, flaunting eccentricities and quirkiness over realism. While his earlier work blossomed formerly lonesome characters into greedy socialites, here he is talking about a generation he doesn't know about and doesn't connect to. Gerwig doesn't help in the matter either, deciding to be odd in lieu of developing any character. The film follows a group of college girls, with the affinity of fifties' debutantes, and plants them into the world of college without showing much outside of social forays, and not realistic ones either. Most of what is charming and offbeat happens when the characters stop trying to hide themselves in their quirky personalities; when the layers of strangeness are peeled back and we see the depths of the characters' struggles and want to belong. That and the jock humor, which realizes a new level of dumb and destructive. Violet's (Gerwig) desire to start a dance craze, help suicidal people, and her love for idiots, gained nothing and didn't further the plot along, which ruined all the buildup she had managed throughout the film. I would say that the only performance that wasn't odd was from newcomer Analeigh Tipton ("Warm Bodies") as the outsider who takes this all in. I don't understand those who find this trilling, light as wind chimes, when it's too obvious and comes off more like a timpani.

• Michael S

  
  "Damsels in Distress" is Whit Stillman's first feature in well over a decade. The result is a film that aims for dead-pan brilliance but instead comes off tedious and repellent with only sporadic instances of satisfying satirical bite. The cast can't be faulted… More
  "Damsels in Distress" is Whit Stillman's first feature in well over a decade. The result is a film that aims for dead-pan brilliance but instead comes off tedious and repellent with only sporadic instances of satisfying satirical bite. The cast can't be faulted (Gerwig and Tipton are particularly strong), but Stillman's writing can. The film is so leisurely paced, so unfocused, that the whole endeavor doesn't add up to much (and the "musical" finale merely cements this). You'll get a running sense of "what's the point" throughout a nimble running time, while the Stillman of old shines through on occasion in the form of slick,razor-sharp dialogue. It's in these rare moments that "Damsels" works; and even rarer? You won't be hoping for these dames to just shut up already!

• Anthony L

  
  Damsels in Distress is a love letter to the decadents and literature of the early 19th century, there is certainly an air of Oscar Wilde about it, albeit with contemporary social issues explored as well as age old problems experienced in youth. It is a celebration of the sincerely… More
  Damsels in Distress is a love letter to the decadents and literature of the early 19th century, there is certainly an air of Oscar Wilde about it, albeit with contemporary social issues explored as well as age old problems experienced in youth. It is a celebration of the sincerely superficial, the character of Violet (played brilliantly by Greta Gerwig) being the best example of this as a masterful governess who is only spurred on by the fact she is knowingly hypocritical and self-aware. Violet has to be one of my favourite new characters in film for a very long time, probably since Max Fischer. It's silly, it's nonsense, it's wonderfully superficial and there is nothing wrong with that from time to time. It was a little hard to like at first but once it reached its stride it was thoroughly enjoyable and the lovely ending was the cherry on the top. Good stuff, don't over think it, enjoy it.

• William D

  
  After a nearly-15-year hiatus from filmmaking, Whit Stillman ("Metropolitan") is back with "Damsels in Distress," starring Indie It Girl Greta Gerwig. I was quite excited about Stillman's return, but, alas, the film never comes together. It's not… More
  After a nearly-15-year hiatus from filmmaking, Whit Stillman ("Metropolitan") is back with "Damsels in Distress," starring Indie It Girl Greta Gerwig. I was quite excited about Stillman's return, but, alas, the film never comes together. It's not terrible, but much of it does not work. Gerwig plays a student at a small secluded liberal-arts college in the Northeast (inspired by Dartmouth maybe?). But it's not so much a character as a comic caricature blown up to absurd proportions. She and her two pals, who are even cruder caricatures, staff a Suicide Prevention Center and are obsessed with helping fellow students avoid depression. There are many funny lines in this spoof of over-educated lost children, but it's just actors reading funny lines. No one for a second seems like a real person. It's more like a Saturday Night Live sketch than a film. This archly unrealistic approach could work if the satire is scintillating and brilliant. But it's never that good. It's just mildly funny throughout. Also, for satire really to work, it has to resemble real life to a degree. These caricatures are so over the top that they don't resemble anyone. No college students are this screwed up. The film is not so much poking fun at real people as imagining absurd things. "Damsels" wanted to be satirical but often comes off surreal. Not because the humor was intentionally surrealistic, but because the attempts at satire kept misfiring. It hurts to say this, but I think Stillman's filmmaking career is over.

• Mark H

  
  Damsels in Distress is populated with preppy characters that seem to inhabit some alternate universe where catchphrases, pop culture and TV doesn't exist. These girls speak with a theatrical air of authority that makes them a fascinating lot. Their world is definitely… More
  Damsels in Distress is populated with preppy characters that seem to inhabit some alternate universe where catchphrases, pop culture and TV doesn't exist. These girls speak with a theatrical air of authority that makes them a fascinating lot. Their world is definitely unconventional. Some of it rooted in sense, the rest rooted in nonsense. They talk with such dignity and confidence, we feel compelled to listen. For a good part of the movie it works. Their sardonic banter is like spoken word poetry. Much of the conversation is captivating in its affected state. Yet there's a shapeless lack of focus that ultimately does the whole production in. It ends with a random musical number that while pleasant, does nothing to address everything we've watched before it. It feels a little, "since I couldn't write an ending, how's about a song and dance ?" What exactly was the point of all this? I'm still not sure and for the first time, I don't think Stillman knows either.

• Bathsheba M

  
  This was a tongue-in-cheek look at what it means to be sophmoric...a word I haven't heard in a while...and the fumbling for identity that defines young adulthood...and the suicidal impulse that accompany less than successful attempts at finding that identity. Things I… More
  This was a tongue-in-cheek look at what it means to be sophmoric...a word I haven't heard in a while...and the fumbling for identity that defines young adulthood...and the suicidal impulse that accompany less than successful attempts at finding that identity. Things I particularly liked: Violet's (the main character) complete breakdown when her loser boyfriend dumps her--it really captured the complete despair you feel when someone you feel completely superior to dumps you---if even HE can't love me, then WHAT? I LOVE the Indian girl with the British accent who thinks every man is a phony player manipulator turns out to be a complete phony herself. Brilliant. I liked the character (Heather?) trying to figure out the world by dividing women into two camps: those who have hips and those who have no hips. Women with hips, she opines, have morals, whereas women with no hips have none. I thought that completely captured the searching in the dark for meaning that young adulthood is and I find myself, even this morning, wondering how long that character will define the world like that until one day she shakes her head violently and says, "what on earth was THAT all about?" I found the suicide cult hilarious, but that's probably because I am far beyond that. If I were thirty years younger it probably would cut too close to the bone. I liked the dresses that the friends exchanged as easily as their personalities. I liked the male characters search for identity, too: the flit-lit class, the weird religious cult. I had a hard time telling the male characters apart, however, but maybe the casting of a certain type was done on purpopse. Overall, I'm still thinking about it and the questions it raised. Quite enjoyable.

• Eric B

  
  Whit Stillman needed 13 years to come up with this? Given the writer-director's previous three features, "Damsels in Distress" is a woeful disappointment. Apparently intended as a dry satire of Ivy League life, the story follows students so stilted and one-dimensional… More
  Whit Stillman needed 13 years to come up with this? Given the writer-director's previous three features, "Damsels in Distress" is a woeful disappointment. Apparently intended as a dry satire of Ivy League life, the story follows students so stilted and one-dimensional that the result is more like a surrealist character study than anything relevant to contemporary culture. Indeed, the film avoids specifying a timeframe -- the only clues are a reference to email and a newspaper article (pause your DVD) that mentions the fledgling "thefacebook.com." Cars? Nope. These kids never leave the campus sidewalks. The story is initially told through Lily (Analeigh Tipton), a sophomore who has transferred to the fictional Seven Oaks University. The script repeatedly reminds us that she is "lovely" without ever revealing much more about her. She soon meets Violet (Greta Gerwig), Heather (Carrie MacLemore) and Rose (Megalyn Echikunwoke), three strangely poised girls who run the campus suicide prevention center. Their main choices in therapy are (no kidding) tap-dancing and the refreshing fragrance of soap. Smells are of top importance to these gals, though it's never quite clear why they're oriented this way. The focus quickly switches to Violet, the only interesting character. Violet talks like a living dissertation paper, making bookish, condescending comments about people and society. She doesn't necessarily seem cruel, because she's so emotionally detached that the idea of hurting someone with words rarely occurs to her. But her one weakness is Frank (Ryan Metcalf), her meticulously scouted example of a perfect mate. Frank represents the other half of Seven Oaks' extreme intellectual divide: the impossibly stupid fraternity boys. (The film's best gag is that the fraternities are named with Roman rather than Greek letters -- the main house is simply "DU.") Frank's naive world centers around hacky-sack and complaining that women are "bitches." This sort of shorthand characterization is typical -- another boy's defining trait is that he never learned the basic colors, and another one (Adam Brody, of "The O.C." fame) is casually described as an "operator" multiple times. Elsewhere, indie-chick icon Aubrey Plaza has a small role as a troubled girl named Depressed Debbie. Are you sensing a lack of writing depth? Add a terrible score -- again, the goal seems to be music so bland that it fails to narrow down a time period -- and the film's mediocrity is complete. "Damsels in Distress" finishes with an awkward song-and-dance number that seems attached only because the story didn't have enough meat to lead anywhere more conclusive.

• Glenn G

  
  Whit Stillman's films are an acquired taste at best. Often compared to the late great French filmmaker, Eric Rohmer, his films are high-minded, extremely arch and talky affairs. He's only made 4 films in his career, starting with 1990's METROPOLITAN, and then… More
  Whit Stillman's films are an acquired taste at best. Often compared to the late great French filmmaker, Eric Rohmer, his films are high-minded, extremely arch and talky affairs. He's only made 4 films in his career, starting with 1990's METROPOLITAN, and then continuing with BARCELONA, THE LAST DAYS OF DISCO, and now he brings us DAMSELS IN DISTRESS. I can't say I've ever been a fan of his work, as its snobby airs have always made me want to roll around in a gutter somewhere with syringes sticking out of me like Tina Turner in TOMMY. But his new film, while still operating in his same wheelhouse, won me over, for the most part. Still a formless, talky mess, DAMSELS has many things going for it. First, never underestimate Greta Gerwig. She's fast becoming an indie MVP, with her great turn in GREENBURG and now here playing your typical Stillman character - -articulate, preppy, and slightly aloof. There's no mistaking that she's channelling (intentionally or otherwise) Chloe Sevigny, who starred in Stillman's DISCO. Her Violet, however, is a unique creation and is charming because she's so open to criticism. The leader of a group of vocabulary-rich HEATHERS who welcome a rebellious naysayer into their college -life fold, Violet never quite reacts the way you think she will. When the newbie, played by CRAZY STUPID LOVE scene stealer Analeigh Tipton tells her she's rude, Violet responds that she thinks she's right instead of letting her claws out. It's a measured, unexpected performance, and one that kept me sitting forward throughout. The girls run a Suicide Prevention Center, and it's hear where we see that well-intentioned yet misguided people can STILL do something good for others. It's a lovely conceit that perhaps tap dancing IS the best antidote to suicidal ideation. Repetitiveness definitely sets in, although the cast remained committed and enjoyable throughout. Megalyn Echikunwoke as Rose (yes, the 4 leads are named after flowers - - so precious!), tended to annoy around the 60th time she called a man a "rat player", and Carrie MacLemore as Heather did the one-dimensional dim girl act as best she could. All of the male characters are underwritten and tend to border on the moronic, but this is a comedy of manners, not a comedy of body parts and fluids like most college-era films. Things turn disastrous in the final reel, when we're subjected to a full-on musical sequence and abrupt character co-minglings. And I REALLY could have done without the too-cutesy dance instructions during the end credits. Despite this, I got lost in its charms. Others will definitely disagree. The Writers Guild screening I attended had more walkouts than I had ever seen. I just don't think they're used to hearing characters speak in complete sentences in movies. It's as if we're witnessing a modern day English Drawing Room Comedy without the corsets, tea, carriages, and Maggie Smith.

• John B

  
  I missed Whit Stillman. I can't remember the last of his films that I viewed but the general idea is that the story and plot line matter less than the dialogue and the concepts that you just have to shake your head at. Here Stillman doesn't disappoint and the actors buy into… More
  I missed Whit Stillman. I can't remember the last of his films that I viewed but the general idea is that the story and plot line matter less than the dialogue and the concepts that you just have to shake your head at. Here Stillman doesn't disappoint and the actors buy into it convincingly.

• Alec B

  
  Its perhaps a little too dry and repetitive for my taste, but Stillman is still able to craft a funny, unique comedy after a 15 year hiatus. The idea here, I think, is that people who exist in a complete insular environment (like college) tend to create their own reality and invent… More
  Its perhaps a little too dry and repetitive for my taste, but Stillman is still able to craft a funny, unique comedy after a 15 year hiatus. The idea here, I think, is that people who exist in a complete insular environment (like college) tend to create their own reality and invent issues because they don't have any serious real problems to contend with

• m h

  
  Sometimes i thought this film was highly pretentious. But then I also found that it was very cute, quirky and funny. It ended up really growing on me. Greta Gerwig as Violet was probably the most annoying out of the group but also the most charming in a way. I also really liked… More
  Sometimes i thought this film was highly pretentious. But then I also found that it was very cute, quirky and funny. It ended up really growing on me. Greta Gerwig as Violet was probably the most annoying out of the group but also the most charming in a way. I also really liked Analeigh Tipton in this movie as well as the rest of the cast. Some parts I thought were a tad stupid. Like the fact that Thor didn't know his colours. I get that him and the frat boys were supposed to be morons...but how honestly could he have made it that far and go to college without even knowing basic colours like blue or green? It was a bit preposterous and probably could have been left out. However, despite all that I ended up really enjoying myself. I thought it was fun.

• Magnus X

  
  A good low-key charming gem of a movie. Its not as good as Metropolitan and The Last Days Of Disco but it takes place in the same universe as those two and its still good. Great acting by Greta Gerwig and the other actors.

Read all 12 featured audience ratings