Rent Damsel (2018)

2.6 of 5 from 142 ratings
1h 53min
Rent Damsel Online DVD & Blu-ray Rental
  • General info
  • Available formats
Synopsis:
Samuel Alabaster (Robert Pattinson) voyages across the Western frontier to ask the love of his life, Penelope (Mia Wasikowska), to marry him. When he discovers she's been kidnapped, he finds himself on an unpredictable journey that raises the question: is this damsel really in distress?
Actors:
, , , , , , , David Wingo, , , , Landon Weeks, , Sabrina Chappuis, , Luana Zellner, Ronald Zellner, Deanna Milsap, Angela Summers,
Directors:
,
Producers:
Chris Ohlson, David Zellner, Nathan Zellner
Writers:
David Zellner, Nathan Zellner
Studio:
Universal Pictures
Genres:
Action & Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Collections:
21 Reasons to Love, 21 Reasons to Love..Modern Westerns
BBFC:
Release Date:
18/03/2019
Run Time:
113 minutes
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1, German Dolby Digital 5.1, Polish Voice Over Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles:
Dutch, English Hard of Hearing, French, German, Greek, Polish, Spanish
DVD Regions:
Region 2
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen 2.40:1
Colour:
Colour
Bonus:
  • Deleted Scenes

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Reviews (3) of Damsel

No such thing as a 'fresh start'! - Damsel review by TE

Spoiler Alert
26/05/2019

I love westerns but the comedy western is a sad footnote to the genre. Once I realised that this film is a comedy western I almost abandoned it.

However, it won me over to a large extent, with the deliberately updated language in the dialogue and the comic sketch nature of some of the later scenes.

The landscapes and the birch forest scenes are very beautiful, worth the price of admission alone.

Ultimately it casts a wry, questioning shadow across the idea of an 'American dream'. There is no nobility or fresh start in life here.

2 out of 2 members found this review helpful.

Brilliant in parts - Damsel review by Alphaville

Spoiler Alert
03/05/2019

This Western begins as a beautifully filmed odyssey through the American west, filmed in Oregon and Utah. John Ford made Monument Valley famous, but the underused Goblin Valley (of which there are many more shots on the DVD Extras) is equally photogenic, as is the craggy Oregon coast. Robert Pattinson is on the trail of Mia Wasikowska, whom he intends to marry. It’s a slow trip, but shot so well and with such an offbeat humour that you’re happy to go along for the ride. David Zellner co-stars as a timorous preacher as well as co-writing and co-directing the film with his brother (who also appears), and they make a good job of all three.

However, there’s a major plot point half-way through that turns the film on its head and after that the film tends to go for a walkabout in the woods. Although still very watchable, it loses focus as a story. This makes the sum of its parts less than its individual parts, but it’s still a very worthwhile watch with some wonderful scenes along the way.

1 out of 2 members found this review helpful.

Why? - Damsel review by PT

Spoiler Alert
13/05/2019

Just bizarre and ugly. No redeeming features. Such as waste of tallent from Mia and Robert, both of whome have led in excellent films.

1 out of 2 members found this review helpful.

Critic review

Damsel review by Mark McPherson - Cinema Paradiso

Damsel spins a Western comedy that’s far more subtle than the likes of the commentary-peppered Blazing Saddles or the bluntly gross-out A Million Ways to Die in the West. The comedy is so firmly tongue in the cheek that the very subversion whipped up with the characters could be considered another aspect of the comedy. It twists and contorts familiar Western tropes to the point where the head-turning of the character oddities becomes too comfortable. For a film that seems to pose an alternative and surreally somber Western tale, it settles a little too comfortably.

There is still a curious charm that lingers the viewer into its dusty leather that there’s at least of a twinge of surprise when north becomes south. The opening bit, in particular, is a brilliant scene. Robert Forster plays an old preacher waiting for a stagecoach in the middle of nowhere with the pioneer Samuel (Robert Pattinson) waiting alongside him. After much waiting and much contemplating, Forster loses it, renounces his faith, removes his clothing, and stomps off angry into the desert to die. It’s a great bit but what follows is a series of segments that could’ve worked better as being just this self-contained.

The central story finds Samuel traversing the Western plains to find the love of his life, Penelope (Mia Wasikowska) and marry her. He looks ridiculous as he rides along with a miniature horse in tow but still fits right at home in the town he visits of unorthodox individuals we see briefly as though they were a series of one-shot Simpsons gags. He teams up with a preacher to make that last stretch of land before the pioneer has found romance. But once Samuel arrives, he’s in for a rude discovery of how Penelope has been living. And she’s in for a shocker of how Samuel views the world. And we’re in for many more surprises as pretty much every expectation about these encounters is shattered of predictability.

While this aspect may make the film itself sound original and twisty, the unreliable nature mounts up so high and quick that the absurdity starts to wear thin for piling on the pounds. It gets to a point that even the sight of a man getting shot while he’s still urinating almost comes off as expected since we’ve been trained throughout to expect the unexpected. Pretty much every character we meet is a liar to the other characters and the audience. I’m sure if viewed in a different light that this subversion could be interpreted as a scathing savaging of the Western genre or a truer take on how people are not so simple, where even a wounded man will try to sneak a grab for a breast if he feels his time is up.

As with a lot of modern Westerns, the film moseys almost a little too quiet on its adventure, perhaps to keep a low-key amount of anticipation so that character reveals or brutal violence packs a bigger punch. And while it does keep the film interesting for the eyes, the mind often wanders when presented with twists for the sake of twists, to the point where we’re no longer surprised that Penelope takes a more cruel turn towards the climax.

The joy of Damsel comes more from the weirdness of its style than the alternativeness of its substance. So if disfigured piano players, bitter preachers, and an outhouse suicide is enough to keep you saddled, this film certainly gets the job done, even if it is firing the same bullets at the same target for an extended period.

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