Damsels in Distress (2012) – 6.5

Interesting that less than a dozen years ago a film could run wild with jokes about suicide. The humor also seemed dated, unless you’re still reading the Harvard Lampoon and watching Chevy Chase flicks. My viewing partner called it “stupid,” but I found it stupid funny. Greta Gerwig starred, with her trademark intelligent-naive affect, leading a cadre (coven?) of attractive college coeds who adopt a mission of raising their fraternity counterparts from hopeless stupidity, only to find their intellectual and moral superiority doesn’t protect them from romantic vulnerability. In short, this overlooked effort by Whit Stillman is nothing less than a proto-Barbie.