Double Feature: Lola Versus and Damsels in Distress

Even if it was unintentional, it makes sense that the Double Feature after the one featuring Mark Duplass is for Greta Gerwig. The uber-indie darlings are also former costars and collaborators on a couple of films, plus Aubrey Plaza from Safety Not Guaranteed has a small role in Damsels in Distress. First, though, I want to start with the "post rom-com" Lola Versus.

As Lola, Greta Gerwig is an unusual heroine. Greta Gerwig is an uncommonly authentic performer. She has moments of vulnerability juxtaposed with her independent instincts. She's beautiful, but awkward. Intelligent, but makes stupid decisions. Clumsy and needy. She's very much an average woman. When Lola's fiance Luke (Joel Kinnaman) puts the kibosh on their wedding, it's just the start of Lola's plans gone awry. Of course she and Luke share the same friends, so turning to Alice (Zoe Lister Jones) and Henry (Hamish Linklater) is difficult. Right. I get it. But how is Lola different from any other twenty-something-screws-up-in-New-York-City movie? 

Real life couple Daryl Wein and Zoe Lister Jones co-wrote the script as an antidote to the "epidemic of smart, awesome women who were really struggling on the dating scene... We felt like we always see the more escapist, glamorized versions of women... but we hadn't really seen the grittier, more authentic and real version of that." (Source linked below.) And so, Lola Versus is a romantic comedy gone wrong. A coming of age film for a woman in her 29th year, it's an embarrassingly accurate depiction of current social mores and contemporary relationships, the incestuous cycle we twenty-somethings fall into when there's a mixed-gender group of friends. Falling for one another, falling for another's ex, clinging to the people who hurt us, and grasping for what we hope is a change in the right direction. All because Lola is eager to please - to meet the expectations of the ones we love, or even the ones we want to love.

Damsels in Distress starts off feeling like a strange cross between Mona Lisa Smile and Clueless, scripted by the writers of TV's Bones. At a small university, three girls invite transfer student Lily to be their roommate and fellow do-gooder. Violet and her friends devote a portion of their free time to working at the suicide prevention center, where in addition to doughnuts, they offer tap dance classes to the clinically depressed. The film is a highly stylized vision of prep life, reminiscent of a Woody Allen film, full of characters that speak in a manner that is completely curated. Not even Greta Gerwig can bring a feeling of honesty to this one. Analeigh Tipton, as Lily, is very likeable, even if the rest of the film feels aimless and overlong. It's not much longer than Lola Versus, but I felt every minute of it.

I guess it depends on how you like your indies. Emotionally charged dramedy or erudite social commentary - take your pick.

Notes and sources:

• Interviews with Daryl Wein and Greta Gerwig
• Hamish Linklater was one of the best parts of Miranda July's The Future, another ultra-indie film I watched a few months back.
• Viewers who liked Lola Versus may also enjoy: Walking and Talking (with Catherine Keener) and Easy (with Marguerite Moreau).
• I really only rented Damsels in Distress because I went to high school with Zach Woods, who plays the editor of the school paper. You may also recognize him as Gabe from NBC's The Office.
• All the Damsels have flower names: Violet, Heather, Rose, and Lily. Really, Whit Stillman? Really?
• Brief interview with Damsels' writer/director Whit Stillman adds some interesting perspective to the films' potential.
• Oh, that Analeigh Tipton! She's also in Crazy, Stupid, Love.