Delayed Reaction: Damsels in Distress

The Pitch: The description I came up with to describe it to a friend was "It's like if Amy Heckerling directed a Wes Anderson movie" and I'm sticking to that description.

I'm not sure I know what this movie is and I don't particularly care. Apparently, Whit Stillman is a know commodity from the 90's indie movie circuit. This is my introduction to his films though, and I have to say that I'm anxious to see more. This is an odd movie that takes the oddness head on. It's played completely earnestly, which is the only way it can work. Any comparison to Clueless or Mean Girls is fair (and probably invited), so I was almost certain to enjoy it. And I did. Greta Gerwig is fantastic (a sentence that get more redundant each role she takes). She, in particular, and the rest of the cast deliver lines that are too preposterous to work but succeed through unflinching commitment to the character and the world. It was fun seeing other actors like Annaleigh Tipton and Adam Brody in addition to brief appearances by people like Aubrey Plaza, Zach Woods, and Alia Shawkat.

This is a damn delightful movie and I was too sick to fully appreciate it the first time I saw it. I need to see it again.

Verdict (?): Strongly Recommend