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DAMSELS IN DISTRESS (2012)Movie Reviews
Comedy about three beautiful girls who set out to transform life at their co-ed college through a program of good hygiene and musical dance numbers. Cast:Greta Gerwig, Analeigh Tipton, Ryan Metcalf, Adam BrodyDirector:Whit StillmanRelease Date:April 6, 2012DVD Release:September 25, 2012From:Sony PicturesRating:PG-13Length:1 hr 37 min
SEPTEMBER 25, 2012
Damsels in Distress (2012), Good (Not Great) Reviews Key Cities
Damsels in Distress (2012) played in key cities to good not great reviews. • Jeannette Catsoulis called the film for NPR, "Loony and erudite, blithe and well-meaning..." • And Dana Stevens wrote for Slate, "...peculiar.... surprising.... the Stillman style has come unmoored from its reason for existence.... flits prettily by without ever finding anything to be about." More Reviews Below...
Damsels in Distress (2012) Positive Reviews (45 Reviews, reviews below)
Alynda Wheat, People: POOR(cg) "New student Lily (Tipton) befriends a group of girls, led by Violet (Gerwig), who couldn't be more patronizing and affected.... the film is as self-satisfied as they are."(See all of Alynda Wheat's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 126 words, 04/05/12
Mary Pols, Time: EXCELLENT "I dare you to watch the joyful delirium of the big dance number, set to an old Fred Astaire tune, and not to feel an unexpected sense of rosiness."(See all of Mary Pols's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 975 words, 04/06/12
Mara Reinstein, Us Weekly: MODERATE(cg) "Beware the tart comedy that's enamored with its own quirkiness.... The offbeat style and oddly erudite dialogue irritate to the extreme."(See all of Mara Reinstein's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 112 words, 04/05/12
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...the contemporary young women and men at the leafy East Coast college called Seven Oaks carry on as if it's 1961.... a wan, self-consciously talky little drama..."(See all of Lisa Schwarzbaum's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 189 words, 04/06/12
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...an exhilarating gift... This is the world as Whit Stillman sees it, and to luxuriate for two hours in that retro bubble of sparkling wit is a pleasure not to be missed."(See all of Peter Travers's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 228 words, 03/30/12
Claudia Puig, USA Today: MODERATE(cg) "...the distress will be felt by audiences... Its blend of slapstick, erudite dialogue and empty philosophizing is more convoluted than clever."(See all of Claudia Puig's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 468 words, 04/06/12
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: VERY GOOD(cg) "Stillman writes his own dialogue, and is a master of clever double-reverse wit.... He's lucky to have found an actress in Gerwig who finds the perfect note..."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 756 words, 04/13/12
James Rocchi, MSN Movies: EXCELLENT(cg) "...brisk, broad and bright... the zippy laughs and romance in Stillman's work have the speedy, hokey, agreeable air of an afternoon at the theater or the art house."(See all of James Rocchi's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 578 words, 04/05/12
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (13 Reviews)
A.O. Scott, New York Times: VERY GOOD "...a movie populated by young people who do not mumble, swear, punctuate their utterances with 'like' or think that an incredulous 'really?' represents the apogee of wit."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,111 words, 04/06/12
Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Greta Gerwig fits all the wry goings-on like a glove, even when Stillman's self-conscious, goofily articulate script threatens to drown the performers."(See all of Joe Neumaier's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 376 words, 04/06/12
Sam Adams, Los Angeles Times: FAIR "Stillman too often substitutes pith for insight, until even that is drowned out by the sound of him chortling into his sleeve."(See all of Sam Adams's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 445 words, 04/06/12
Farran Smith Nehme, New York Post: OUTSTANDING(cg) "It's Gerwig who shines brightest, showing how Violet's striving and deceptions come not from conceit or meddling, but from her relentless intelligence."(See all of Farran Smith Nehme's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 614 words, 04/06/12
John Anderson, New York Newsday: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...a triumphant comic return of director Whit Stillman to the realms of skewed perception, willful blindness and blissfully blinkered belief systems."(See all of John Anderson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 386 words, 04/20/12
David Edelstein, New York Magazine: VERY GOOD "...wobbly and borderline twee, but it deepens as it goes along and becomes rich.... Whit Stillman is the most charitable of satirists."(See all of David Edelstein's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 715 words, 04/02/12
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: VERY GOOD(cg) "Stillman writes his own dialogue, and is a master of clever double-reverse wit.... He's lucky to have found an actress in Gerwig who finds the perfect note..."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 756 words, 04/13/12
Eric Hynes, Village Voice: GOOD "...self-contained, unstably buoyant, and ardently frivolous.... Whit Stillman's cinematic sensibility is both plain as day and hard to pin down."(See all of Eric Hynes's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 736 words, 04/04/12
Peter Howell, Toronto Star: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...has an abundance of the erudite zingers that Stillman excels at writing, and that make his elegantly staged works seem like period pieces..."(See all of Peter Howell's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 581 words, 04/20/12
Rick Groen, Toronto Globe & Mail: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...a mannered comedy, more stylized and theatrical, almost surreal at times, and less accommodating to Stillman's trademark brand of razor-sharp dialogue."(See all of Rick Groen's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 180 words, 09/07/11
Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: EXCELLENT(cg) "It's a little more complex than it sounds, and much funnier, thanks to Stillman's ear for pompous dialogue and fondness for inspired running gags."(See all of Norman Wilner's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 152 words, 04/19/12
KEY CITIES (12 Reviews)
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: MODERATE(cg) "...resembles the production number it concludes with - refreshing and earnest at first blush, but not executed with enough substance or genuine elan to make it stick."(See all of Ann Hornaday's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 469 words, 04/13/12
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: VERY GOOD(cg) "...agreeably peculiar and endearing... In a sea of mean-spirited comedies, how wonderful to find one that openheartedly endorses happiness."(See all of Colin Covert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 543 words, 04/20/12
Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: MODERATE(cg) "Much like real college for many, it's an OK place to spend time, with some enjoyable memories, but by the end (a full-on, full-cast dance number) you can't wait to get out."(See all of Bill Goodykoontz's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 608 words, 04/20/12
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "The characters watch Francois Truffaut and study Evelyn Waugh, but the movie's true sisters are 'Heathers' and 'Clueless' and 'Mean Girls,' satires with sharper claws."(See all of Wesley Morris's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 906 words, 04/20/12
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: POOR(cg) "...a film by a director giving in to the impulse to mock himself... Stillman has a better movie in him than this wretched mess, something from the heart, without the smirking."(See all of Mick LaSalle's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 288 words, 04/13/12
Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times: MODERATE(cg) "...an oddly retro tale of a group of college women determined to raise standards -- hygienically, musically, romantically -- at their school, mostly by singing and dancing."(See all of Moira Macdonald's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 255 words, 04/27/12
Shawn Levy, Portland Oregonian: VERY GOOD(cg) "Some of it is dazzling in its drollery and quiet cheek. But more than a bit of it underwhelms, and some is appallingly flat."(See all of Shawn Levy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 453 words, 04/27/12
Tom Long, Detroit News: VERY GOOD(cg) "Stillman has a nice time with the dialogue and assorted moral arguments, but the film would probably drag if it weren't so perfectly cast..."(See all of Tom Long's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 303 words, 05/04/12
Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: VERY GOOD(cg) "...an inconsequential bauble -- but I laughed out loud in nearly every scene, and there are lines in the movie that still make me chuckle."(See all of Rene Rodriguez's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 637 words, 04/27/12
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE PRESS (9 Reviews)
Eric Hynes, Village Voice: GOOD "...self-contained, unstably buoyant, and ardently frivolous.... Whit Stillman's cinematic sensibility is both plain as day and hard to pin down."(See all of Eric Hynes's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 736 words, 04/04/12
Katey Rich, Cinema Blend: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...colorful and witty and very cheerful. But it's also packed with the kind of quirk that can get viewers checking out of the movie within minutes."(See all of Katey Rich's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 299 words, 09/14/11
Peter Keough, Boston Phoenix: VERY GOOD(cg) "...a feel-good, laugh-a-minute confection... in a tartly tongue in cheek, Whit Stillman way, an incisive, quasi-feminist analysis of male-female relations."(See all of Peter Keough's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 342 words, 09/12/11
Jesse Hassenger, Pop Matters: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...while recognizably his own, 'Damsels in Distress' is also unlike any of Stillman's other films: it's sillier and stranger, less tethered to a recognizable reality."(See all of Jesse Hassenger's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 828 words, 04/13/12
Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: EXCELLENT(cg) "It's a little more complex than it sounds, and much funnier, thanks to Stillman's ear for pompous dialogue and fondness for inspired running gags."(See all of Norman Wilner's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 152 words, 04/19/12
HIGHBROW PRESS (6 Reviews)
A.O. Scott, New York Times: VERY GOOD "...a movie populated by young people who do not mumble, swear, punctuate their utterances with 'like' or think that an incredulous 'really?' represents the apogee of wit."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,111 words, 04/06/12
Anthony Lane, New Yorker: GOOD "...peculiarly weightless and capricious.... casts an unaccountable spell... Whit Stillman is a lightly mocking modernist with growing distaste for the modern."(See all of Anthony Lane's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 728 words, 04/02/12
Jeannette Catsoulis, NPR: EXCELLENT "Stillman's writing has a singular intelligence that has become an increasingly rare pleasure in the movie theatre... Loony and erudite, blithe and well-meaning..."(See all of Jeannette Catsoulis's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 487 words, 04/06/12
Sam Adams, Los Angeles Times: FAIR "Stillman too often substitutes pith for insight, until even that is drowned out by the sound of him chortling into his sleeve."(See all of Sam Adams's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 445 words, 04/06/12
Dana Stevens, Slate: MODERATE "...peculiar.... surprising.... the Stillman style has come unmoored from its reason for existence.... flits prettily by without ever finding anything to be about."(See all of Dana Stevens's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 900 words, 04/06/12
Andrew O'Hehir, Salon: EXCELLENT "...weird, wacky and mostly wonderful... Stillman -- an Oscar nominee for his first script, 'Metropolitan,' back in 1991 -- remains one of the funniest writers in captivity."(See all of Andrew O'Hehir's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,184 words, 04/05/12
MOVIE INDUSTRY (5 Reviews)
Leslie Felperin, Daily Variety: OUTSTANDING "...an utter delight.... Stillman proves he still knows how to write crackling, articulate dialogue for quirky preppie characters whom he loves laughing at as much as with."(See all of Leslie Felperin's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 695 words, 09/10/11
Neil Young, Hollywood Reporter: VERY GOOD "Greta Gerwig's pitch-perfect here, infuriating and irresistible as a woman genuinely determined to influence world history by inventing a new dance-craze."(See all of Neil Young's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 813 words, 09/10/11
Sam Adams, Los Angeles Times: FAIR "Stillman too often substitutes pith for insight, until even that is drowned out by the sound of him chortling into his sleeve."(See all of Sam Adams's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 445 words, 04/06/12
A.O. Scott, New York Times: VERY GOOD "...a movie populated by young people who do not mumble, swear, punctuate their utterances with 'like' or think that an incredulous 'really?' represents the apogee of wit."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,111 words, 04/06/12
18.7 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
Damsels in Distress (2012)'s reviews are separated by an average 18.7 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
Damsels in Distress (2012) (45 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:Damsels in Distress (2012)'s reviews cover 88.0% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 24,120 words involume (average is 20,194 words). Length:The film's reviews average 536 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
Reviews Broke 10 Days Before Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
Damsels in Distress (2012)'s reviews on average broke 10 days before opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is Damsels in Distress (2012)'s opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
Damsels in Distress (2012) (45 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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