10/23/09 Review – Whip It
October 25, 2009
Review: Whip It starring Ellen Page, Marcia Gay Harden, Daniel Stern, Kristen Wiig, Drew Barrymore, and Juliette Lewis. Rated PG-13 for sexual content, crude dialogue, some drug references, and sports violence. Marks the directorial debut of Drew Barrymore.
I got invited to see Whip It on opening night by a friend of a friend who is friends with the Glass City Rollers, Toledo’s roller derby team. Did you follow that connection? I couldn’t say no, because I was curious to see how actual roller derby players felt about the depiction of their sport in this movie. Judging by the reactions of the team, they liked it.
Whip It stars Ellen Page as Bliss Cavendar (later Babe Ruthless) as a 17 year old in a small Texas town whose mother is intent on having her girls become beauty pageant stars. While her younger sister is completely into the beauty pageant scene, Bliss seems unsatisfied. When she sneaks out one night to see a roller derby match in Austin, she realizes that this might be what her life is missing, and she joins the “Hurl Scouts” team, unbeknownst to her parents.
Whip It does a great job of portraying a young woman trying to find her identity and find some happiness despite all the forces in her life working against her. She doesn’t want to be a pageant queen, but she doesn’t know how to make her family and friends understand.
The film is a comedy, and there are plenty of funny moments, especially the roller derby scenes. Jimmy Fallon is hilarious as the announcer, and Andrew Wilson (brother of Owen and Luke) is outstanding as Razor, the coach of the Hurl Scouts. Drew Barrymore, in a limited role as Smashley Simpson, is also quite funny, and it’s nice to see Juliette Lewis doing what she does best, playing a semi-trashy tough girl. But Whip It is also a film about a young girl discovering who she is, and what makes her happy, and going for it despite what everyone else thinks.
Whip It is a funny, cute film that is definitely worth checking out.
Overall rating: 3 cheeseburgers
