A high school-age barbecue waitress in a small Texas town discovers
the empowering goodness of roller derby in Whip It, the
directing debut of Drew Barrymore which showcases another great
performance from Ellen Page.
The movie works as both a fun portrayal of a crazy sport and a
coming-of-age story, thanks to a very game Page, who does a lot of her
own skating and has no problem playing 17 (even though she’s actually
22).
Bliss Cavendar (Page) isn’t the most popular girl at her high
school, and her misery is compounded by her strict mother (Marcia Gay
Harden) insisting that she participate in nauseating beauty pageants.
Her dad (Daniel Stern), while a lovable sort, is obsessed with
football. With no real plan for the future, and a general fear about
opposing her mom, Bliss just goes with the flow to avoid acrimony.
During a shopping trip in Austin, Bliss is handed a flier for an
upcoming roller-derby event. She lies to her parents about going to a
football game, attends a derby and is instantly hooked. She pulls her
Barbie skates out of an old trunk, practices a bit and blows away the
competition at tryouts. Before long, she is Babe Ruthless, super jammer
for the Hurl Scouts.
Barrymore has assembled a great cast, including herself as Whole
Foods-checkout-girl-turned-derby-monster Smashley Simpson. The list of
stars handles both the humor and athleticism admirably. I especially
liked Kristen Wiig as Maggie Mayhem, the most motherly person in the
group. Wiig gets a chance to really act, compared to the pure comic
roles she’s usually handed. She’s funny here, but her character shows a
lot of heart, too.
Other supporting players include Juliette Lewis as a rival skater, a
part that amounts to the film’s villain. She causes some trouble, but
she’s not a cartoon villain in any way, and Lewis mixes in the right
amount of menace and vulnerability. Andrew Wilson gets perhaps his best
role yet as Razor, coach of the Hurl Scouts. (Actually, his turn as
Beef Supreme in Idiocracy was a bit cooler.)
As for the skate scenes, some moments look staged and silly, but
Barrymore, her cast and her editor make the action passably realistic,
for the most part. It helps that you can usually see the actresses are
onscreen rather than stunt skaters. It gives the movie an authentic
feel, even if some of the moves the characters inflict on one another
aren’t exactly regulation (at least according to a derby-skating friend
of mine).
Page, who passed on the chance to be in Sam Raimi’s Drag Me to
Hell to play Bliss, made a wise decision. It’s good to see her do
another riff on high school life after Juno, and now it’s time
for her to take on some more adult roles. I’m sure she is up to that
challenge.
That roller-derby-playing friend is constantly talking about aches
and pains and bruises after bouts, and having to practice all the time.
Before seeing Whip It, I always told her that she was insane to
take part in the sport. This movie does a good job of showing why derby
is so appealing.
It’s also a good film about family dynamics, friendship and finding
your way in life. Barrymore shows she can direct a movie with style and
substance, and I’m looking forward to her future efforts behind the
camera. As for Page, she’s one of my favorite actresses right now, and
Whip It is a big reason for that.
This article appears in Oct 8-14, 2009.