Damsels in Distress

2012 "For these girls... it's not what you learn, it's whom you educate."
5.8| 1h39m| PG-13| en| More Info
Released: 06 April 2012 Released
Producted By: Westerly Films
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website: http://www.sonyclassics.com/damselsindistress/
Info

A trio of beautiful girls set out to revolutionize life at a grungy American university: the dynamic leader Violet Wister, principled Rose and sexy Heather. They welcome transfer student Lily into their group which seeks to help severely depressed students with a program of good hygiene and musical dance numbers.

Genre

Drama, Comedy, Romance

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Damsels in Distress (2012) is now streaming with subscription on Paramount+

Director

Whit Stillman

Production Companies

Westerly Films

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Damsels in Distress Audience Reviews

Protraph Lack of good storyline.
Spidersecu Don't Believe the Hype
Mathilde the Guild Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.
Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable
garthlotel This is my favourite Greta Gerwig movie. The humour is wonderfully dark and dry and the story is a unique mix of college frat movie meets musical fantasy meets Clueless meets Heathers. It's hard to describe this film as it doesn't seem to fit any particular genre. But you will love Greta and her friends and you will delight in their quests.
rowmorg Greta Gerwig's unique style is perfect for her role as Heather in this excellent little flick. She sets a moralistic tone and clearly intends to reduce the rate of suicides in her college, which she says are all caused by boys. Boys also stink, and later she adopts a cheap soap which helped her to deal with losing Frank's (incoherent) love. Sadly, none of the boys care. As we learn about Heathers misconceived love for Frank (who is an idiot), we learn that she changed her identity as a child, when she was called Emily Tweeter. She wrestles with suicide, and is saved by the savour of her motel's free soap. The dialogue throughout is excellent. I did not stop laughing. The ending is even more ridiculous as the whole cast does a "Freak" Astaire musical dance.
David_Brown Another film that simply does nothing for me. If the ZERO Star option was there, this film would get it. Why? It has the substance, style and taste of leftover Hospital Jello (basically no meat or even bones). How much does it lack? Besides the obvious, a story, it shows no means of modern communication and entertainment such as computers, TV, or even phones (how can you be on a College Campus in 2011 (where the story is supposed to have taken place) without them?), or a lack of transportation (not even a School Bus or car)). I guess cell phones were out of their budget? Not to mention a bunch of girls, who are not exactly hot to look at, and have such flower names as Violet, Rose, Lily, and of course Heather (which actually means... You guessed it flower). The guys are worse: Marvel Comic Characters (Thor, Xavier (Professor X), Rick (Jones) from "The Incredible Hulk" and Freak an Iron Man Villain). Maybe they should have added a chick who is hot like Mary Jane Watson? The plot, from what I figured out was about doing a dance craze featuring music from Chubby Checker. I wonder who can actually name a song from Chubby Checker? Perhaps the stupidest scene (save the ending) where the School shut down a Fraternity in a scene that had no purpose except for ripping off "Animal House." The Delta's were of course, funny. A word that was lacking in this so called "comedy." It did not even create a smile from me (let alone a laugh). Did I mention the pathetic, lame music such as "Things Are Looking Up For Me?" and some stupid Abba type song they are dancing to? It might be the worst Soundtrack I ever heard in a Motion Picture. Last but certainly not least, is there are no characters you can like (or even hate), it does not even offer a resolution to the story. Is it the worst film I ever saw? No that belongs to "Machete" followed by "Walk On The Wild Side" and "Reality Bites." But it does make my Top Five All-Time Worst Film List (and I have seen thousands of films). Zero Stars
james-t-sheridan Sometimes a movie can be annoying, pretentious, or merely static. Sometimes a movie gets you on its side quickly, allowing you to forgive any flaws. I can see how some audiences could react to a social comedy like "Damsels in Distress" with its obvious debts to the works of Jane Austen, its nods to the self-obsessed world of academia, and its sun-dappled walks amongst gorgeous columned buildings. I think this film won me over in its first twenty minutes by being strange and deeply funny, so I decided to go along for the ride. I found myself beaming at the end and really recommend it, though I will understand if you dislike it.Rose (Megalyn Echikunwoke), one of the lead characters in Whit Stillman's new film "Damsels in Distress," warns the women around her about men who send drinks to them at bars: "What you are describing is a 'playboy' or 'operator move.'" The way that she draws out the syllables in the word had me laughing more and more each time she said it. Rose, along with Violet (Greta Gerwig) and Heather (Carrie MacLemore) form a trio committed to Suicide Prevention at Seven Oaks College, and in the first scene they adopt transfer student Lily (Analeigh Tipton), taking her under the wing and bring her into their world. As Violet hilariously reminds Lily, "Have you heard the expression, prevention is nine tenths the cure? Well, in the case of suicide, it's ten tenths the cure." Violet and her friends upend the social order by selecting guys far below them on the social scale to date: "Take a man who hasn't realized his full potential-or doesn't have much yet...Then help him realize it or find more." Their philosophy involves elaborate dance sequences, long walks through campus, and pillow talk conversations where all four leads share a room. In a loose construction of chapters with cute names, the girls address the major issues of the day: dance crazes, 'operator' types, parties, and the like.I first discovered Whit Stillman films in college where the Film Society showed "Metropolitan" and "Barcelona." I remember the intelligence of his characters, the commitments to studying upper-crust society mores, and the brilliance of Chris Eigeman. "Damsels in Distress" is Gerwig's film, and as Violet she shines and gives very funny line readings. As an idealized, romantic version of college, Stillman constructs Seven Oaks as a site of warring interests, with the Romans (not Greek system) clashing with the elitist newspaper writers for the Daily Complainer being most amusing. Does everything in the film work? No. Tipton is asked to carry far too much of the storyline on her own which muddles the film. No male character is half as interesting as the female ones. Yet the work of Gerwig and Echikunwoke carry the day, and instead of a cool kids in school film like "Mean Girls" or "Heathers," and instead of an acidic attack on college and dating like Neil LaBute's "The Shape of Things," Stillman focuses on a delightfully aloof, well- intentioned bubble of socially privileged and sheltered women with sharp wit, heartfelt emotions, and the ability to country line dance. From fashion to dialogue, the women seem wonderfully out of joint with their time. No one carries a phone or checks email. It is almost a shame that the men have to be included.