Feeling sorry for frat guys. Wow, I’d never quite considered that perspective before. To paraphrase: “frat guys need our help, because they are morons. “ If nothing else, Whit Stillman always gives me something new to think about. Damsels in Distress is Whit’s quasi-answer to Animal House. Actual sexual activity is replaced with suggested sexual activity, rambunctious college hijinks are replaced by suicide counseling, voyeurism with boyfriend swapping, Otis Day with subdued movie musical line dancing, actual humor with suggested humor, an R with a PG-13. And, of course, these are Roman frat guys, not Greek, distinguishable by their failure at the color wheel.
New student Lily (Analeigh Tipton) shows up on Seven Oaks campus and immediately befriends Violet, Heather & Rose (Greta Gerwig, Carrie MacLemore, Megalyn Echikunwoke). There is no mention of a rival group of boys named Rock, Stone, Shale and Formica. The latter flower girls take Lily in and give her lessons in low-grade pretension. *sigh* You know how it is when kids fall in with the wrong crowd. Alpha female Violet runs the posse. When she explains how she has chosen Frank (Ryan Metcalf) for a boyfriend because of his non-threatening looks, intelligence or personality, we can see this is going to be a different kind of college movie.
This a-typical college romp feeling is most acute when Frank reclaims a token beanie ball from Violet. He’s out of place in her room; it’s clear he doesn’t spend a lot of time here, nor does he quite know how to carry himself in foreign territory. It’s refreshing in a college film to see the females have the upper hand; on the other hand, it’s hard to say what this scene intended to be. It wasn’t funny exactly, nor awkward, nor did it lead to anything plot-wise.
Speaking of which, I couldn’t actually tell you what the plot to Damsels is. The action is small time co-ed campus adventure, but that hardly constitutes an actual plot. And sadly, although likeable, Damsels in Distress is, hence, tragically forgettable. I predict in a week I’ll have trouble remembering the title, within a month I’ll forget the minor activities resembling plot and within a year I probably won’t even remember that this is among the seen list. Let’s hope I don’t make an effort to see it again by accident.
Hey, what was I talking about again?
Rated PG-13, 99 Minutes
D: Whit Stillman
W: Whit Stillman
Genre: COLLEGE!! Check that, more like: college.
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: SOFA – the Society Over-enabling Frat Assholes
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: The dudes sneaking in after American Reunion
This was a player or operator review.