Robert Pattinson Searches For His ‘Damsel’ Mia Wasikowska [Sundance Review]

PARK CITY – Four years ago David Zellner and Nathan Zellner (aka The Zellner Brothers) unveiled “Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter” at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. The imaginative drama earned strong reviews and two Independent Spirit Award nominations 10 months later including a Best Director recognition for David. Now, the siblings have returned to Sundance with a new creation, “Damsel,” that despite the efforts of Robert Pattinson and Mia Wasikowska will be hard pressed to earn the same reception.

Set somewhere in the frontier wilderness of the 18th century, “Damsel” begins with a prologue featuring an old preacher (Robert Forester, perfectly cast) sick of the Wild West and ready to jump on the first stagecoach back east. Waiting to continue his journey in the opposite direction is Parson Henry (David Zellner, talented), a widower looking to start over in the great unknown. The preacher loses his patience, but before he walks into the desert to meet god he throws his worn out bible and his suit to the more optimistic traveler. Befuddled, Parson now has a new identity even if the preacher’s collapse of faith is an ominous sign.

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Oh, by the way, “Damsel” is supposed to be a farcical comedy. Don’t worry.  It’ll get there, eventually.

Fast-forward a number of years and the strapping Samuel (Pattinson with a new American accent) arrives in a small frontier town with a miniature horse named buttercup at his side. Samuel has hired Parson to officiate a wedding between himself and his beloved damsel in distress, Penelope (Wasikowska, appropriately spirited), but finds the preacher passed out drunk as the surroundings have kicked him in the ass as much as they had the preacher before him. Nevertheless, they soon embark into the wilderness to find his bride to be who Samuel insists has been kidnapped against her will by the supposedly nefarious Anton Cornwell (Gabe Casdorph).

Parson and the increasingly quirky Samuel travel quite a distance to get to Penelope as it takes a long time to find her. I mean, a long, long, long time. So long in fact you’re thankful Buttercup is there to peak your interest as you wonder where the Zellner Brothers are taking this uninspired narrative.  When the answer is revealed it’s in the context of what is supposed to be a surprise twist that reveals the film’s intended comedic tone. Apparently, Penelope wasn’t kidnapped and had no desire to be with her former suitor, but that was pretty evident the minute Samuel and Parsons come upon the cabin she’s holed up in (so, no, that’s not the aforementioned twist).

The rest of “Damsel” is predominately told from the POV of Parson who has gotten mixed up in a mess that at this point he’s just desperate to get out of alive. Penelope finds her world turned upside down, but despite what the movie’s title insinuates, she’s more than capable of looking after herself. As events continue to unfold Anton’s off-kilter brother Rufus Cornwell (Nathan Zeller, funny) and a Native American Zacharia (Joseph Billingiere, subtly good) join the festivities.

In the midst of the comedic antics the Zellner’s touch on the inherent loneliness of the frontier and make sure Mia is a contemporary twist on the frontier woman archetype. The film’s inherent problems, however, are two-fold. First, the opening third of the picture is an absolute slog. The Zellners may have thought this was a creative choice to make the comedic scenes funnier when they finally hit, but it simply doesn’t work. Second, the funny bits simply aren’t as funny as they should be. If this is a question of acquired taste, it’s one for a very small audience. And there’s little to be said about the filmmakers’ efforts beyond that.

Of note, cinematographer Adam Stone, a longtime Jeff Nichols collaborator, beautifully captures the wide-open vistas of Oregon and Utah. And Jane Anderson’s costumes are quite inspired providing period prints rarely seen in the genre. [C+]

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