Damsel

The type of Western that you could see the Coen Brothers putting their name behind, Damsel is further proof that there's life in the age-old genre yet as filmmaking duo David and Nathan Zellner take us on a darkly comedic trip to the wild west.

It's not to say Damsel is a roaring success, as its slowly paced and rather emotion-free experience is often far too ponderous and cold for its own good, but the twisting, turning and non-conforming tale the Zellner's have created is an odd beast that is sure to find its fair share of fans amongst the many likely detractors.

Filmed in the eye-capturing surrounds of the American wilds, Damsel is a pretty sight indeed that's anchored by creative actors Mia Wasikowska and Robert Pattinson, as the two young lovers reunite after years apart, as the Zellner's take us on a zany journey through a time and place that was filled with more than its fair portion of colourful and cuckoo characters, all on a quest to find meaning and purpose in a harsh unforgiving land, filled with much promise and even more dreaming.

We never really get much of a backstory or foundation of where Wasikowska's competent Penelope or where Pattinson's more dim-witted but well-meaning Samuel Alabaster come from or what shaped them into the people they are as we meet them but it's quite clear we can gather Samuel has been on some type of journey (with a miniature pony in tow), it's just a shame we couldn't get to partake in any of it, as the Zellner's choose not to relay any of this in Damsel's near two hour run-time.

It's a runtime that at times draws to a near halt as the story at the heart of it flows rather slowly and despite the good work of Wasikowska and Pattinson, Damsel struggles to maintain an energy and vibe to keep it going and you do wish that someone like the aforementioned Coen Brothers could've lead the charge here as Damsel feels as though it had the potential to be quite special.

There's brief moments where darkly attuned humour and hilarious encounters (Adams apple comparisons and town hangings) happen throughout Damsel, while David Zellner's side character Parson Henry and other oddball creations add spark to proceedings at certain times but it's not enough to enlighten the film as a whole as you feel as though Damsel missed the opportunity to maximize its unique tale.

Final Say -

Damsel is a curious entry into the western genre with some nice moments of black humor and well-staged strange happenings but overall the Zellner's film ends up being a rather forgettable feature.

2 ½ miniature ponies out of 5

This western is different because of its low body count, but that is more due to the low number of characters in the wilderness. The pace is slow, and the characters are not so sympathetic. I found it rather dull and boring.

"The Old West is not a certain place in a certain time; it's a state of mind. It's whatever you want it to be. -" Tom Mix

I should have liked the Zellner brothers' Western comedy, Damsel, much better than I did. It has elements of Mel Brooks and the Coen brothers when they mine the satire of a genre very long in the tooth. The difference: writing.

Brooks with his inspired goofiness (Blazing Saddles) and the Coens with their light-hearted larceny (Raising Arizona), have characters using language much smarter than they are, whereas The Zellners' lines are deadpan but dull even though they use elevated diction as the Coens so often do. Using contemporary lingo like "win win" and "real deal" doesn't titillate as it should. In addition, Zellners' language lacks strong affinity with bigger issues.

Samuel (Robert Pattinson), a rich pioneer, engages a sham preacher, Henry (David Zellner), to officiate at Samuel's wedding to Penelope (Mia Wasikowska). In their journey with a miniature horse, gift to Penelope (not the waiting Penelope of the Odyssey), the two must deal with their naiveté and the vagaries of raw Western staples like rot-gut whiskey, duplicitous Indians, and bad campfire ballads (Samuel's ballad to Penelope, called My Honeybun, is a weak companion to Brooks' notorious campfire scene)

While this set-up is rich fodder for satire, most of the jokes fall as flat as Penelope's affect and as dry as the joke about a fool in a barrel being strung up for no obvious reasons. Westerns are ripe for satire, but the flat line here comes not from the fine performances but the tepid minimalist script and uninspired cinematography.

Wasikowska is marvelous as the independent and bitter love interest, Pattinson showing once again that he is much more than a teen heart-throb. The Zellners have the right motif about loneliness; they just need to beef up the languid language and droll action.

Such a strange movie. Much like watching two separate movies. At least there were a few laughs to be had in the first half.

My wife and I watched this at home on DVD from our public library. I wanted to see it mainly for the actors, knowing little about the actual story.

It was written and directed by the Zellner brothers, and each has a featured role in the movie. The basic story is a man, Robert Pattinson as Samuel, heads west to find his damsel who he thinks has been kidnapped. He plans to rescue her and ask her to marry him. The damsel is Mia Wasikowska as Penelope.

The opening scene sets the tone, David Zellner plays a man new to the west, fascinated by the prospect of meeting real Indians, and waits for the stagecoach with an old pioneer (Robert Forster) who is tired and headed east. The stagecoach doesn't show up but the old man gives away his belongings including a tattered bible, so the new man takes on the name Parson Henry.

There is no advantage in describing the story in greater detail, suffice to say Samuel has a total misunderstanding of the situation and it doesn't turn out well for him. When the movie was over we were both a bit puzzled as to why this particular story was put to film and what the filmmakers were really trying to accomplish.

I cannot recommend it to anyone I know.