Damsels in Distress

Stillman's observations on relationships & culture used 2 b delivered by well-off WASPs whose self-assured opinions offered a distinct view & a laugh when they themselves weren't being relatably insecure. This time however, his musings come from the mouths of a troupe of enervatingly quirky Stepford Wife wannabes, who defend privileged morons whose 1-note idiocy gets tired fast. This might b surreally entertaining if any of it were genuinely funny. Diehard fans only force their laughs.

Wrote three straight "it's ok, not great" reviews, and wondered what was the last thing I saw that was more than just kind of forgettable. Well, here you go...and not in a good way. I've liked Gerwig in every thing I've seen in her until this unfunny slog. I don't know what this is or thinks that it has accomplished.

A disappointment after all this time. The characters are interchangeable and don't come alive, the dialogue has the cadence and form of Stillman's previous work; but is lacking in wit.

Bizzare, tedious and therefor obliviously great.

This is a STRANGE movie. I didn't absolutely love it, but I didn't hate it either. First of all, the casting was great for everyone. I just loved all the girls in this film. Analeigh went from Top Model to being a really good lead actress. Greta Gerwig really was fantastic though. She is just utterly insane and creates the best dance crazes. The writing was the real star in this movie. The lines are really weird and witty and makes you want to watch it again just to see if you missed anything.

Insanely lovely.

SO DRY. Are they all autistic? Is this parodying something?

Stillman's latest stands out for its subversive-cum-absurdist tone and frequent changes of mood. The driving force of the film and main outlet for Stillman's sarcasm, Greta Gerwig, has great presence to begin with but sadly her character doesn't turn out to be an all-time classic. Instead the duties are shared very equally between almost all the main characters. The laughs are pretty consistent and the film gets zanier as it runs out of steam which is a good thing in my book. A unique voice.

Having now seen all of Whit Stillman's films, I have a greater appreciation of DAMSELS; it's still a bit off-key at times (in a way I'm not sure was intended), and has no real narrative to speak of, but it's bright, witty, and often quite funny; Ryan Metcalf's cheerful meatheadedness and Carrie MacLemore's airy spunkiness stand out in a fine ensemble. Stillman's pet themes, including Eurotrash interlopers and an affection for the characters' absurdity, are on full display. Now...go Sambola.

A whimsical addition to the Stillman saga. Adam Brody is fantastic as the playboy operator type and Gerwig picks right up where Sevigny left off.

Caught the premier of this charming fancy at the Dublin Film Festival. Exiting very much in the world established by Whit Stillman's earlier trilogy, the film is never the less even more ebullient, fondly ironic and absurd. Self indulgent to the point of madness, it's none the less utterly charming and self contained. A splendid evening in the company of the ersatz young.

Though I didn't really warm to neither the characters nor the humour in this quite odd tale of off-beat and, of course, eloquent college students, I definitely wish that Stillman, who at his best ('Love and Friendship') is absolutely brilliant, would make films more often.

Unstructured but fun. (#800)

I love Stillman's first three movies, and had high hopes for this one. It starts rather promisingly, and... just doesn't go much of anywhere. There are glimmers of the old Stillman wit at regular intervals, and it's by no means a waste of time, but as it goes on, it gets weirder and weirder--capped by a dance ensemble to a Gershwin song reminiscent of Woody Allen's "Everyone Says I Love You", except (mercifully) lip-synched.

Whit Stillman's wit's still, man

Some hot chicks

I found myself really struggling to care about any of these characters, in large part because they feel like wholly manufactured caricatures. Caricatures can be interesting if they're sharp and incisive, Gerwig's character is almost fleshed out enough to hit the mark, but the rest of them are too thin to do anything but provide some laughs at their expense. I did get a decent amount of laughs out of it, but it all felt very disposable and unoriginal. Certainly not up to Stillman's earlier films.

If hyper-mannered deadpan is your cup of joe, then come on up for Damsels in Distress, a gem of a college movie, with some surprisingly deep thoughts on what it means to be cool (or not).

I possibly burnt myself out on Stillman. Despite the 10+ year break, nothing is really missing. Maybe graduating from college makes college movies a little less exciting but I was sort of hoping all these idiots would just move to Manhattan and become assholes already. If not a perfect comeback, it as least captures a few magical moments that remind one of what Stillman does best. I guess this is a gender-swap version of Ted's dating idea in Barcelona. It's certainly cute.

Is this ironic? Is this ironic to be ironic? Is this stupid? Am I stupid? I watched it for Miss Gerwig and I didn't regret it, that's for sure.

This movie is pretty fucking hilarious with its well-written deadpan dialogue. The plot is okay I guess, but the character interaction is solid.

Greta Gerwig, the indie film queen? Kind of pretensions here, but I liked the awkwardness of the movie.

Enjoyable investigation of the merits or otherwise of coolness and uncoolness, and of the question of whether uniqueness is a virtue or otherwise.

What a weird little movie; I can highly recommend it.

My first Whit Stillman movie. I basically loved it. It's just SO MUCH FUN. Plus, Greta Gerwig is fantastic.

I just love Whit Stillman movies. He writes great dialogues. It could easily better after first half an hour. Deadpan faced Greta Gerwig and Hugo Becker are new generation's Chloe Sevigny & Chris Eigeman apparently (I'd like to see him in the movie). Don't forget the soap that the cure for deppression (salute to Fight Club).

Clueless girls go the college route. Oddly ineffectual and lacking in the wit of 90s Whit.

The damsels of Stillman's film spend most of their time trying to help others in their strange, off-kilter way. And yet, their distress arises because of their commitment to a kind of life in the world which their peers seem to have given up on. That Stillman makes his heroines something approaching insane serves to underline the way the modern world has given up on their values. Stillman's comedy is typically droll, and Gerwig's line readings are especially effective. Great comedy.

Stillman returns after a long hiatus and does not disappoint. A tad lighter and more whimsical than his earlier films, but still exceedingly sharp and witty. And probably funnier than anything i've seen in a while. As always, he walks the line between kitsch and absolute sincerity with a perfect level of ambiguity. Even the tacky looking digital cinematography ultimately works. Delightful!

As a fan of Whit Stillman's original three films I was surprised just how bad this film was. As a fan of Greta Gerwig I was surprised how terrible her performance was. All of the acting (especially Gerwig) is vapidly uncharismatic. The screenplay was also horrendous as there is nothing even resembling any sort of setup or introduction. As a result the characters feel both fully formed and underdeveloped. Compared to Stillman's previous work Damsels in Distress just seems messy and forced.

It was just too plain, and because of that I just found it incredibly boring. Those 95 minutes seemed like 950, and then it ends like it does, and you just feel, not cheated, but like you've wasted your time.

Sambola was alright. Everything else is just ... weird.

Not very funny, charming or enjoyable bare a few glimpses. *Preview*: #12#, exp-3*, story, reviews, Analeigh.T/6-3, Aubrey.P/6-3, R2.

This film was quirky and interesting, with a slow, pretty pace, and female characters who were comically philosophical. I'm still not sure what I took from it, or what message those who made it were intending to offer. But it was entertaining and subtly, darkly funny, and I enjoyed watching it.

Weirdly charming (especially Greta Gerwig's performance).