Drew Barrymore's Whip It - Film Review
Ellen Page Stars as Beauty Queen Turned Derby Girl in this Dramedy
Oct 2, 2009
In Whip It, the edgy, underground sport of an all-women’s roller derby provides an arena for a young girl to exercise the courage to define herself on her own terms. The film excels best at bringing the audience along as the heroine tests the strengths of her various relationships, and learns to honor them all.
Teenaged Bliss (Ellen Page) has been patiently living a claustrophobic small town life in Texas. She and her younger sister have been participating in the local beauty pageant circuit through the encouragement of her mother, (Marcia Gay Harden).
Her well-meaning mom, who was a former Blue Bonnet beauty queen herself, wants to ensure the doors of opportunity are open for her daughters. However, the generally compliant Bliss is beginning to express some good, old teen rebellion.
Finding Your Bliss
While on a shopping trip in the nearby city of Austin, she manages to get her naïve mom into a head shop, so she can buy a pair of hip boots. At the store, Bliss spies a group of cool, alternative-type of girls, who roll in on skates to deliver flyers promoting a future roller derby exhibition.
Bliss convinces her best friend and co-worker at the local diner, Pash (Alia Shawkat), to take her car into Austin, so they can attend the all-women roller derby game. Pash earns straight A’s, and in turn earns her parents trust and her personal freedom. Ultimately, she hopes her grades will get her into an Ivy League school, and out Texas.
Once there, the girls are drawn to both the culture and sport of roller derby, including the outrageous rink fights as well as the sexy uniforms and nicknames. Bliss also spots a cute guy, who’s a fan, in the crowd.
One of teammates from the Hurl Scouts, Maggie Mayhem (Kristine Wiig), notices Bliss' interest in the sport. Maggie encourages her to attend their tryouts the following week, if she’s at least 21 years old. The ecstatic teenager fibs that she has just turned 22.
Back at home, the derby girl hopeful pulls out her old Barbie roller skates, and secretly starts to practice. On the evening of the tryouts, Bliss hops on the local Bingo bus that regularly travels to Austin. Once there, her amazing speed awards her a spot on the Hurl Scouts team, captained by the goofy Smashley Simpson (Drew Barrymore).
Bliss proceeds to accommodate her new role as “Babe Ruthless” by changing her work schedule and lying to her parents. When the new derby girl also starts a romance with “cute guy” Oliver (Landon Pigg), she ends up alienating her best friend.
Flying Over the Rails
Eventually, her hidden life is exposed to her parents. The fallout leads Bliss to move in with her teammate, Maggie, “the cool aunt”, who is also the mother of a young boy. Maggie wisely advises Bliss that “just because you found a new family, doesn’t mean you throw the old one away.”
Bliss reconciles with her mom and dad, and agrees to participate in the upcoming Blue Bonnet Pageant. Her father realizes that his daughter’s true happiness comes from the sport of roller derby. Not only is it a game she excels at, but the champion game was set for the same day as the pageant.
The Hurl Scouts would be competing against their adversaries, the Holy Rollers. The thirty-something Holy Rollers team captain, Iron Maven (Juliette Lewis), feels threatened by her rival, the younger derby girl. Maven quickly takes advantage of her newly gained knowledge that her opponent is only 17 years old, and unable to compete without the signed consent of a parent.
Both her father (Daniel Stern) and fellow teammates rally for her return to the rink, and her mother soon follows. In the end, Bliss finds the bravery to assert herself through the aggressive demands of the sport, and gains the acceptance of her loved ones.
Although Whip It is heavier with derby skirmishes than dialogue, Page’s teenaged character does hold some gutsy, candid conversations with her over-protective mom, passive father, jealous best friend, and philandering boyfriend.
The teen drama is also loaded with lighter moments, such as a gratuitous food fight, complete with banana cream pies, and blooper scenes that run with the end credits.
The Cast and Crew of Whip It
Whip It stars Drew Barrymore, Ellen Page, Marcia Gay Harden, Kristen Wiig, Juliette Lewis, Jimmy Fallon, Daniel Stern and Alia Shawkat.
Directorial film debut of actress and producer Drew Barrymore. Screenpaly written by Shauna Cross, based on her Young Adult novel “Derby Girl”. Cinematography by Robert D. Yeoman. Edited by Dylan Tichenor. Prodcution design by Kevin Kavanaugh. Costume design by Catherin Marie Thomas. Music supervised by Randall Poster. Original music by The Sction Quartet.
Produced by Barry Mendel. Executive producers are Drew Barrymore, Peter Douglas, Joseph Drake, Nancy Juvonen, Nathan Kahane and Kristen Smith.. U.S. release by Fox Searchlight Pictures.
(Running Time: 110 min)
(Rated: PG; for Sexual Content including Crude Dialogue, Language and Drug Material.)
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