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WHIP IT |
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When I was a kid, Roller Derby was as big as professional wrestling. In fact there was a movie about one of the teams: "Kansas City Bomber"
with the forever hot Rachel Welch in the lead. What a hoot! I don't even remember what the hell the storyline was. I just remember Rocky (as she was called). Apparently, Drew Barrymore remembers those days as well. Or maybe she is enthralled by the current retread of the "sport" as she
chose Roller Derby as the topic of her directorial debut. That's okay, I remember Ron Howard's first effort was the horrid "Grand Theft Auto" in 1977. Barrymore cast Ellen Page as Bliss Cavender, a Texas teen whose conservative strong-willed mother (played
deliciously by Marcia Gay Harden) is pushing her into various beauty pageants. The film opens with Bliss preparing for a pageant but suffering a
disaster when her hair turns bright blue. Clearly she is not pageant material. |
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After the incident Bliss and her best friend Pash (Alia Shawkat) run up to Austin to see a Roller Derby match
staged in an old warehouse. Seeing the girls racing around the ring enthralls Bliss. So much so that when one of the roller derby girls invites her
to try out for the team, she does. After a couple of days of steady practice on her old Barbie skates she manages to pass the tryout and make the team - The Hurl Scouts. It is soon discovered she is the fastest skater on this team of misfits featuring Smashly Simpson (Drew Barrymore), Jaba the Slut (Eli Bleiler)
Rosa Sparks (Eve) and other suitably named macho women. Sadly Bliss has joined a team that has never won a match. Moreover, they don't care about winning. The only one interested in winning is the coach Razor (Andrew Wilson) who has drawn up plays that none of the girls has even read. Not the best
way to win a game. After a few bumps and bruises, Bliss gets a grasp of the game and finds she enjoys it. Because she takes chances her teammates give her the moniker
of Babe Ruthless. Alas Bliss is doing this behind the back of her parents - more specifically her mom whom believes in the 50's philosophy that women should be ladies.
After all, that is why she pushes her daughters into the pageants. Bliss' father Earl (Daniel Stern) seems to support his wife's decisions as long as his support wins him sex! |
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"Whip It" is, as you may guess, a team spirit type of movie more than a coming of age film. There is a segment where Bliss falls for a boy
who happens to be with a band, but it is more an aside than a focus. As is typical of just about every film Fox Searchlight backs, "Whip It" is very well made and like "Juno" and "Little Miss Sunshine" suotable for
a broad audience. Though Page does well in her most unbelievable role, it is Harden who shines as the quasi-prudish mother. She is perfectly cast. "Whip It" is full of skating and hard knocks. It isn't nearly as sexy as "Kansas City Bomber" - but then again it doesn't have a Rachel Welsh! But
it takes a different course and doesn't disappoint. --GEOFFREY BURTON
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