'DAMSELS IN DISTRESS': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

Quirky teen comedy-drama about three college girls who run a Suicide Prevention Centre and offer words of wisdom and advice to troubled new college students while also trying to deal with their own issues. It was written and directed by Whit Stillman (who also helmed the eccentric comedies 'THE LAST DAYS OF DISCO', 'BARCELONA' and 'METROPOLITAN'). It stars Greta Gerwig, Megalyn Echikunwoke, Carrie MacLemore, Analeigh Tipton and Adam Brody. The movie is pretty aimless and slow paced but it's also always amusingly strange and whimsical.

The story is set at an East Coast college named Seven Oaks where Violet (Gerwig),Rose (Echikunwoke) and Heather (MacLemore) attend. The college has a mostly male dominated tone, despite becoming coed several years earlier, and the women feel forced in to having to deal with brutish and dimwitted guys all the time. They run a Suicide Prevention Centre and are also constantly trying to recruit freshman girls in to their clique to educate them on the ways of the campus (as well as the world). This year's recruit is Lilly (Tipton). Lilly runs in to man troubles right away and the others try to help her deal with them while also dealing with their own.

The movie has no real direction or strong character objective. It just kind of follows these young girls around as they struggle with adapting to life. It's slow and will bore the hell out of some viewers but others will be quite entranced by it (and others somewhere in between). I found the dialogue to be quite witty and funny and I loved all of the performances. I also really enjoy how quirky and in love with individuality the film seems to be. To me that's a great message to send young viewers (if they actually see the film, it might have missed it's target audience). The movie is a quiet little piece of cinema joy if you let it be.

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Violet (Greta Gerwig) and her two followers Heather (Carrie MacLemore) and Rose (Megalyn Echikunwoke) intends to help Lily (Analeigh Tipton) who recently transfered. They run the Suicide Prevention Center at the Seven Oaks College to questionable effectiveness. They have an obsession with odor and fighting for proper etiquette. Priss (Caitlin FitzGerald) joins the group insisting that she's not suicidal.

I just think that the characters are so unreal. Everything is so weirdly pretentious and mannered. They are annoying people who all talk in that annoying manner. It may work if only a few talk that way. This feels like writer/director Whit Stillman is trying too hard. The Frat guys are too stupid. Are they color blind? At least, that would explain that insane conversation. The problem is that they don't look high. It sounds more like high talk. The girls are too high-minded (not the drug kind). The conversation is too annoying to be funny. It almost pains me to hear some of the dialog. I love Greta Gerwig as an actress. Analeigh Tipton is OK but she lacks the power. There are some good actresses but I don't like this movie.

Of course in Germany they changed the title into "Algebra in Love". Which kind of is something that is in the movie too, but of course the original title is way better. Although I guess it might be confusing for some who don't have a clue what they are watching too. It just states what situation the women in the movie are. But in a different way than some would imagine.

Gerwig is great in her offbeat role, but the support cast is helping too. It's a tough theme and script to pull off (as can be seen in some commentaries here on IMDb too),but while it won't reach everyone, I think it will reach enough people who will like/love it.