From left: Rose (Megalyn Echikunwoke), Heather (Carrie MacLemore), Violet (Greta Gerwig) and Lily (Analeigh Tipton) are on a mission to civilize their college in Whit Stillman's campus comedy "Damsels in Distress." Sabrina Lantos | Sony Pictures Classics

Movie review: Gerwig is ‘adorkable’ in ‘Damsels in Distress’

By Sean P. Means

| The Salt Lake Tribune

First Published May 03 2012 03:15 pm • Last Updated May 03 2012 05:20 pm

If, like me, you have seen indie darling Greta Gerwig before (in "Baghead," "Greenberg" or "Arthur") and haven’t decided whether her earnest quirkiness left you irritated or besotted, "Damsels in Distress" won’t help you reach a verdict.

Gerwig plays Violet, the talkative leader of a gaggle of female do-gooders at a formerly all-male Seven Oaks College. Violet and her friends, snooty Rose (Megalyn Echikunwoke) and dim Heather (Carrie MacLemore), run the campus’ suicide prevention center, where Violet champions tap-dancing as a depression cure. Enter Lily (Analeigh Tipton), a transfer student who questions whether Violet is too judgmental about Seven Oaks’ menfolk, sending Violet into a self-described "tailspin."

Writer-director Whit Stillman, long the chronicler of young upper-crust manners ("Metropolitan," "The Last Days of Disco"), creates dialogue that is as clever as it is chatty, with charming discursions for Gershwin tunes and even an attempt at starting a dance craze.

Gerwig, with her rapid-fire dithering, is fully in command of the film, though I can’t help feeling her winsome awkwardness will eventually lead to her and Zooey Deschanel in a back-alley knife fight to determine who’s the most "adorkable" of all.

movies@sltrib.com; nowsaltlake.com/movies

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

About Reader Comments

---

Reader comments on sltrib.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Salt Lake Tribune. We will delete comments containing obscenities, personal attacks and inappropriate or offensive remarks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. If you see an objectionable comment, please alert us by clicking the arrow on the upper right side of the comment and selecting "Flag comment as inappropriate". If you've recently registered with Disqus or aren't seeing your comments immediately, you may need to verify your email address. To do so, visit disqus.com/account.
See more about comments here.