DVD / Film Review: WHIP IT

By Norm Schrager at February 2, 2010 | 11:44 pm | Print

by Norm Schrager, posted 02.02.10
3.5 / 5 stars

Whip It could’ve been just another alternacool misfit coming-of-age tale, but it has one big asset: the same irresistible onscreen energy of its director, Drew Barrymore.

The bubbly Barrymore hits her directorial career running. Or roller skating, in this case. For her debut, Barrymore (who also produces and co-stars) points her camera at some serious chick-to-it-ive-ness, the resurgence of women’s roller derby in Austin, Texas, and the teenage girl who gets caught up in it.

The girl is the oddly named Bliss Cavendar (the sadly typecast Ellen Page), a free thinker who’d rather find something more challenging than preparing for the pageants her mom (the great Marcia Gay Harden) so deeply loves. Bliss is dangerously close to other characters we’ve seen Page portray, but the talented actress has just enough depth to pull Bliss away from the wiseasses of Juno and Smart People.

Not that Bliss isn’t a wiseass, but she has a right to be. She’s stuck waitressing in a tiny town, the kind of town that has every high schooler like Bliss desperate to get out. When she encounters a few derby skaters promoting an upcoming match, she’s hooked on the sheer potential of being bold and brash enough to skate into a store, wink, gum-smack and skate out. Attending the event leads to a tryout, a slot on one of the teams, and some unexpected mini-fame.

It’s impossible not to fall for Bliss’s hard work and pluckiness — something that’s often been said about Barrymore herself. If Page had played Bliss by singing the same song of the disillusioned teen, the character would’ve been more annoying than engaging. But Page adds some authentic wide-eyed smalltown naivete to her toughness, and we want her to make it big. Or as big as anyone from Bodeen, Texas is gonna get.

Barrymore boosts Page’s presence with an infectiously fun ensemble cast within the anti-establishment roller derby world. With names like Smashley Simpson and Bloody Holly, the girls (a strange collection including Barrymore, Zoe Bell, Eve and Kristen Wiig) hit hard, laugh harder, and keep it loose enough to give you the female version of Animal House.

The new director does run into some rookie mistakes in adapting Shauna Cross’ novel. She and Cross (who also wrote the script) keep us away from the derby a little too long in developing Bliss’ first love relationship and the connection between Bliss and her dad (Daniel Stern!) feels painfully close to that of Juno and her dad (J.K. Simmons). Yeah, dads have a special chill bond with their daughters, but this is all too familiar.

Some of the most gratifying scenes in Whip It involve quiet exchanges between Page and Harden, at times in which mother and daughter are able to see each other more clearly. Whether they like the view or not. And for all the ebullience and humor of Whip It, Barrymore is able to approach those scenes by taking the volume way down and effortlessly finding the heart and compassion. And that may very well be her future as a director.

Whip It on Blu-ray: Available on Amazon

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