Damsels in DistressSometimes being a bit insane can be a good thing; I mean, as long as we're not going around stabbing people or the like. A kind of benign lunacy which has a will to do good at its core...or at least attempt to do no harm. Violet Wister (Greta Gerwig) is a college student at Seven Oaks University, a Christian college where they have "Roman" fraternities instead of "Greek", "Flit-Lit" courses, and the occasional advent of a dance craze. When Violet and her helpful crew meet Lily (Analeigh Tipton), a transfer student, Violet recruits her as a new member, and they begin a unique friendship of differing standards, but also one of understanding.
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Violet and her allies, Heather (Carrie MacLemore) and Rose (Megalyn Echikunwoke)--notice the horticulture-themed names--are a bouquet of well-meaning, but also patronizing, young women who believe that they can do good by offering their services at the campus suicide prevention center. There remedy of choice is Dunkin' Donuts and coffee, and the advice for girls who are depressed after breaking up with their beau to set their standards lower, date the "doufi" (the plural of doofus, not common, but preferred) of the Roman frat houses, like Violet's boyfriend of the double-digit IQ, Frank (Ryan Metcalf). Violet is a supporter of the existence of the fraternities--her favorite being "DU", home of her boyfriend, which bears an uncanny phonetic similarity to "duh"--a sentiment which puts her at odds with her arch-nemesis, Rick DeWolfe (Zach Woods), an arrogant journalist for The Daily Complainer. When Lily "chastizes" Violet (her words) about being hypocritical, calling DeWolfe "arrogant", when she herself also sits in her judgments of others, Violet takes the comments to heart, but is not hurt by them--rather, she absorbs the feedback and does some self-analysis. Violet espouses the idea that women should find dull, unattractive men more viable for relationships because they have a lot to offer in terms of boosting the self-esteem of the woman, but this comes down to a clinically logical assessment, which on the surface might appear as self-aggrandizement, but for Violet is just her detached, warped kind of logical way of choosing a relationship devoid of illusions, or at least illusions she can't control. Violet is a fascinating character, because she has a kind of innocent absence of context; though she feels, she does so with an almost robotic level of awareness, detached from her own emotion. She delivers almost flat, deadpan responses without irony, but which have hilarious connotations all the same. A personal favorite line is when Violet tells Lily that with while in most cases "prevention is nine-tenths of the cure, in the case of suicide, it is actually ten-tenths". Violet has her confidence shaken after she catches Frank making out with one of her rescued damsels, Priss (Caitlin Fitzgerald), and has to cope with the depression--sorry, "tailspin"--she now is confronting. (By the way, if you're going to consider "dance therapy" as a means to deal with clinical depression, Aubrey Plaza probably won't be the most sympathetic counselor, evidenced in a bit of comical casting.) Violet superficially finds her solace in the comforting scent of a motel bar of soap, but really finds her calling as she cultivates her musical talents, and offers forth her passion, the dance craze that even the color-confused Thor (Billy Magnussen) can do, the Sambola!
Not to be outdone, Lily's romantic misadventures at Seven Oaks have to do with her complicated relationship with Xavier (pronounced "Zavier", like "Zorro"), an opinionated French grad student with a predilection toward the Cathar fashion of love (look it up, but not at work). Xavier and Lily dance around their attraction toward one another, until he informs her that his girlfriend left him out of jealousy, and he lays a romantic movie and wine on Lily; cliche, yes, but then again, surely Violet would approve of cliches. And while Lily and Xavier are working through their communication issues about intimacy, another well-dressed young man--Charlie (Adam Brody)--suavely buys a drink for Lily and asks her out to get to know her better, though Rose is convinced that this is simply a ruse on his part as a "playboy and/or operator type". But once things start to pick up with Xavier, the other girls want to meet Charlie, and Lily is apprehensive, maybe even selfish to share him. And yet, as fate would have it, Violet meets Charlie, and senses something is amiss, eventually pinning down that he is a liar--named Fred--and had adopted a fictitious personality to meet girls, which Violet finds irresistible, as she has been doing the same thing...not pretending to pick up girls, but she has been using an artificial persona, having long abandoned her embarrassing erstwhile moniker of "Emily Tweeder". Maybe crazy attracts crazy, and Violet does not dispute this assessment. Although Whit Stillman is not a prolific filmmaker, his work always resonates with sharp, witty comedy and tells the stories of young people trying their hardest to find their place in society, in romance, and really just being a part of something; Damsels in Distress is no exception to this. Although there are often moments when the comedy is a bit dark, it never really veers into full-on black comedy, as if held aloft by a kind of grace which makes it into something cultivated, but not elitist. Stillman's passion for dance does not go without being addressed in the film, as moments of tap, line dancing, and even a "dress rehearsal" musical number keep the film light and airy, yet writ with unyielding cleverness. The key players shuffle partners periodically, but in the end you sense that everyone has found the right companion, and all is well, recalling the comedies of William Shakespeare.
Recommended for: Fans of a droll and whip-smart comedy about young college students becoming friends and finding romance, without the detestable stereotypes and blue comedy of college teen movies; and, hey, you might learn a few dance moves, too.
Not to be outdone, Lily's romantic misadventures at Seven Oaks have to do with her complicated relationship with Xavier (pronounced "Zavier", like "Zorro"), an opinionated French grad student with a predilection toward the Cathar fashion of love (look it up, but not at work). Xavier and Lily dance around their attraction toward one another, until he informs her that his girlfriend left him out of jealousy, and he lays a romantic movie and wine on Lily; cliche, yes, but then again, surely Violet would approve of cliches. And while Lily and Xavier are working through their communication issues about intimacy, another well-dressed young man--Charlie (Adam Brody)--suavely buys a drink for Lily and asks her out to get to know her better, though Rose is convinced that this is simply a ruse on his part as a "playboy and/or operator type". But once things start to pick up with Xavier, the other girls want to meet Charlie, and Lily is apprehensive, maybe even selfish to share him. And yet, as fate would have it, Violet meets Charlie, and senses something is amiss, eventually pinning down that he is a liar--named Fred--and had adopted a fictitious personality to meet girls, which Violet finds irresistible, as she has been doing the same thing...not pretending to pick up girls, but she has been using an artificial persona, having long abandoned her embarrassing erstwhile moniker of "Emily Tweeder". Maybe crazy attracts crazy, and Violet does not dispute this assessment. Although Whit Stillman is not a prolific filmmaker, his work always resonates with sharp, witty comedy and tells the stories of young people trying their hardest to find their place in society, in romance, and really just being a part of something; Damsels in Distress is no exception to this. Although there are often moments when the comedy is a bit dark, it never really veers into full-on black comedy, as if held aloft by a kind of grace which makes it into something cultivated, but not elitist. Stillman's passion for dance does not go without being addressed in the film, as moments of tap, line dancing, and even a "dress rehearsal" musical number keep the film light and airy, yet writ with unyielding cleverness. The key players shuffle partners periodically, but in the end you sense that everyone has found the right companion, and all is well, recalling the comedies of William Shakespeare.
Recommended for: Fans of a droll and whip-smart comedy about young college students becoming friends and finding romance, without the detestable stereotypes and blue comedy of college teen movies; and, hey, you might learn a few dance moves, too.