Film Review

By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

Whip It
Directed by Drew Barrymore
Fox Searchlight 10/09 Feature Film
PG-13 - sexual content including crude dialogue, language, drug material

Ellen Page (Juno) puts in another stellar performance in this spunky coming-of-age roller derby dramady. She stars as Bliss Cavendar who lives with her mother Brooke (Marcia Gay Harden), her father Earl (Daniel Stern) and her little sister Shania (Eulala Grace Scheel) in the small and boring town of Bodeen, Texas. She and her best friend Pash (Alia Shawkat) work at a café called the Oink Joint during the day. Brooke is trying to live through Bliss and has determined that her daughter must win the local Miss Blue Bonnet Pageant. But when Bliss discovers the exciting world of roller derby at a rink in Austin, she sees fresh possibilities for her life on the horizon.

It is a delight to watch this seventeen-year-old qualify for the Hurl Scouts, a scrappy underdog team coached by Razor (Andrew Wilson). Short and slight in comparison to the others on the squad, she has one thing going for her — speed. Maggie Mayhem (Kristen Wiig) serves as her mentor, and soon the others on the team have welcomed her as well. But the newcomer immediately finds a nasty competitor in Iron Maven (Juliette Lewis), a seasoned and rough veteran on a rival team. Bliss, renamed Babe Ruthless, also falls for Oliver (Landon Pigg), a musician who woos her but has his own interests to look after when he's on the road.

Whip It is directed by Drew Barrymore. It is based on a novel by Shauna Cross, who also wrote the screenplay taken from her own experiences in roller derby. Bliss has to deal with a lot of changes as she tries to make her own way in the world and is tested in the realms of family, friendship, romantic love, and allegiance to the Hurl Scouts as a new community.

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by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat