Review: Damsels in Distress
When I was in college, I fell in love, deeply and intensely ... with Thirties screwball comedies, with quirky indie comedies, with Billy Wilder and Preston Sturges and Bill Forsyth and I can't remember who-all else. I didn't get to Whit Stillman and Metropolitan until graduate school, but I really liked that movie too.
And while I was watching Stillman's latest movie, Damsels in Distress, all I could think of was how much I would have adored this film when I was in college. I liked it very much now, but the super-quirkiness, the obvious homages to Sturges comedies and Astaire/Rogers musicals would have overcome my then-infatuated self. The powers of scents to destroy or heal! A character named Fred Packenstacker, and another who calls himself Freak Astaire! Four women with distinctive personalities who are interested in men only as part of their mission to make the world a better place!
Greta Gerwig's character Violet and her friends remind me happily of Emma Woodhouse and Flora Poste (there should be a Kate Beckinsale reference here, but I'm not up for it) -- women who want the world to work smoothly and tidily, and who connive and fight to make it that way. They're the Three Musketeers of the New England college set, fighting with coffee and donuts, cliches expressed too sincerely, and dance steps.
Three upperclassmen, or rather women, at Seven Oaks University -- Violet (Beckinsale), Heather (Carrie MacLemore) and Rose (Megalyn Echikunwoke) decide that their latest good deed will be to take transfer student Lily (Analeigh Tipton) under their wing. The three students have been running a suicide prevention center on campus, and performing other strange but well-meaning good deeds. Lily adds an occasional note of skepticism, but likes her new friends.
But before the world can be fully transformed by therapeutic dancing and clean, wonderful scents, some characters without a sense of order and tidiness throw a few wrenches in the works. Lily faces romantic difficulties, and the guys in the Roman (not Greek) fraternity whom they've been trying to help, turn out to have some interesting quirks of their own.
Violet's character veers a little too closely into quirkiness for quirkiness' sake -- she admits she delights in cliches and hackneyed expressions, and her speech is too studied and mannered. As Damsels in Distress progresses, however, this starts to make sense. And Gerwig is so sincere in the role that it seems oddly believable. The most grounded character is Lily, but even she is pulled into some strange situations with French student Xavier (Hugo Becker) and the mysterious Charlie (Adam Brody).
Violet and Lily are the primary focus of Damsels in Distress, but the supporting actors offer some memorable scenes. MacLemore and Echikunwoke are able to hold their own as the other members of their select group, and Aubrey Plaza provides a great counterpoint as a sullen dancer in black.
The mannered dialogue and call back to Thirties comedies is not a style for everyone. My husband would last about 10 minutes into this movie. But if you are willing to embrace Stillman's rarified world and characters, Damsels in Distress will add light and sparkle and the catchy Sambola dance to your own world.