Damsels in Distress: Ditto for the Audience

The main problem with "Damsels," a flick about a quartet of coeds who try to elevate life on their college campus, is that we rarely see the need for their ministrations and when we do the movie is at least half over.

In a sense, we're dropped into their universe, the fictitious Seven Oaks College, to meet the girls who run the campus suicide prevention center where tap dancing and doughnut downing are the preferred therapies.

If this sounds funny, well, somehow it isn't. In fact alpha damsel, Violet (Greta Gerwig) is so brittle that she brings to mind that proverbial squeaky chalk on the blackboard. Cringe. Cringe.

"Damsels" feels more like a series of semi-amusing scenes thrown against a wall to see what will stick, rather than a well-integrated film.

Why see this movie? Violet's prissy 1950s wardrobe made it worthwhile for the Movie Slut.