Whip It: Hell on Wheels

I have never been a fan of the phrase “girl power”, and especially not a fan of those who use the 1990’s played-out cliché in actual conversation. That said, “Whip It” can best be summed up by those gag-inducing words because it not only entertains, it makes you want to go out and kick a little a**. The film marks the directorial debut of Drew Barrymore, who everyone has watched grow up from a tiny seedling in E.T. to a quirky, vivacious Hollywood fixture now in her mid 30’s. Though the movie is an adaptation of the book “Derby Girl” by Shauna Cross, Barrymore does a solid job drawing honest performances out of her actors and bringing the raucous fun to life on the screen.  Basically, “Whip It” is “A League of Their Own” on roller skates with tattoos and bad attitudes – they even mimic the “that’s not a bruise, THIS is a bruise” competition for injury bragging rights. Though it gets off to a slow start, once the film picks up speed (no pun intended) it makes up for lost time, believe me.

The movie centers around Bliss Cavendar (played by Ellen Page, Juno darling extraordinaire), an angst-ridden teenager longing to break out of her small town of Bodeen, Texas in search of bigger things. She’s sharp-tongued, awkward, doesn’t fit in and wears lots of ironic hipster T-shirts – basically, she’s playing the role she plays best (and is dangerously approaching “one trick pony” status) only less precocious this time around. Her only salvation is her best friend Pash (played by Alia Shawkat), who understands Bliss’ eccentricities and longs to get out of Bodeen as much as Page’s character. On a casting side note: I did not love Shawkat’s performance, something about her didn’t seem right the whole movie…but maybe it’s just me. Adding insult to injury, Bliss’ mother (played by a stellar Marcia Gay Harden) is as overbearing as they come, constantly molding her daughters into her own ideal of debutante perfection, only Bliss resists the stepford pageant life. She soon finds refuge from the brutal surroundings of her Podunk town when she discovers the world of roller derby in nearby Austin. The girls are punkish and unladylike, they swear like sailors, drink like fish and take spills like champs – and it doesn’t take long for Bliss to be hooked. With bad a** names like “Maggie Mayhem” (Kristen Wiig), “Smashley Simpson” (Barrymore) and “Eva Destruction” (Ari Graynor), the derby girls soon become the new pseudo family of Page’s character, who adopts the moniker “Babe Ruthless.”

Of course there has to be a love interest, and who better to play the indie rock star type than actual musician Landon Pigg. Attempting to even out the femme-centric cast further, Jimmy Fallon plays derby ringmaster ‘Hot Tub’ Johnny Rocket, Daniel Stern plays Bliss’ dad and the dubious honor of coaching Page’s  ragtag Hurl Scout team goes to Andrew Wilson (of THAT Wilson family, yes – Owen and Luke have another brother, and he’s equally charming). Wilson spends most of the film trying to get his outlaws to follow actual plays and bring a little style to the contact sport, with some success. Though this movie is a veritable roll call of celebrity cast members (rapper Eve, Fallon, Pigg to name a few), it must be said that standout performances were given by Kristen Wiig and Juliette Lewis. Lewis pretty much nails the grittiness of her character, Holy Roller team captain “Iron Maven”, and the food fight scene is not to be missed. It goes without saying that Ellen Page’s performance was spot on and that her skating skills weren’t too shabby either. All of the actors earned their derby stripes during the prep for this film; even the concussion Barrymore suffered only upped her own skating cred. If only we lived in a world where you could actually throw elbows and clothesline your enemies and get away with it, sigh…

Granted, the plot is thoroughly predictable, and Page’s character finds herself in the end, yada yada yada, but “Whip It” takes the time to make the characters believable and that’s more than I can say about a lot of other movies. Equally believable are the numerous hits and spills provided courtesy of the roller derby antics, and it almost makes you want to strap on a helmet and knee pads and dig up your old skates.  Though the threat of overdosing on estrogen in a film like this is very real, Barrymore did a respectable job of avoiding that pitfall. If “Whip It” is any indication of what we can expect from her future projects, then buy me a ticket for the next flick, because this chick’s on a roll.