Whip It, actress Drew Barrymore’s debut film as director, is a touching and surprisingly effective coming-of-age tale with a wonderful sense of female camaraderie. It’s a roller derby picture, but instead of being campy or exploitative it has a real affection for its characters and the game they play. In many ways, it’s the ultimate “girl power” film.
Roller derby became somewhat popular in the early 1970’s, and produced at least two semi-mainstream films in 1972: Kansas City Bomber, starring Racquel Welch, and the Roger Corman-produced Unholy Rollers, which starred Playboy Playmate Claudia Jennings. Roller Derby seemed to disappear from the public consciousness since, but there was a resurgence in the sport in the early 00’s that produced teams and leagues that took roller derby seriously despite some retro-campy names and fashion.
It’s precisely this kind of ironic mindset that appeals to Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page), a character not entirely unlike the leads in Terry Zwigoff’s Ghost World. Bliss lives in Bodeen, suburban Texas, with her browbeaten father (Daniel Stern), her overbearing mother (Marica Gay Harden), and a younger sister. Mom is a former beauty pageant queen, and her two daughters follow in the same footsteps, even though Bliss doesn’t have her heart in it.
But after a trip to Austin-area roller derby with friend Pash (Alia Shawcat), Bliss finds something that she can put her heart into. So – keeping the sport a secret from her parents, who would take issue with it – she tries out for, and makes, the Hurl Scouts.
The Hurl Scouts include Maggie Mayhem (Kristen Wiig), Smashley Simpson (director Barrymore), Bloody Holly (Zoe Bell, New Zealand stuntwoman and star of Tarantino’s Death Proof), Rosa Sparks (Eve), and the Manson Sisters (a reference to the Hanson Brothers from Slap Shot), who are played by two real-life derby stars.
Opposing teams like the Fight Attendants and the Holy Rollers are led by Eve Destruction (Ari Graynor) and Iron Maven (Juliette Lewis). Despite the casting, most of these characters are relegated to background detail, except for Mayhem, who takes Bliss under her wing, and Maven, a particularly competitive, tough-but-fair rival.
The Hurl Scouts are coached by Razor (Andrew Wilson), a real surprise among the solid cast. Wilson, the brother of Owen and Luke who has only seen minor roles since debuting in Wes Anderson’s Bottle Rocket alongside his siblings, really makes an impression here – he’s charismatic and likable and just as charming as his brothers.
Whip It can be accused of following a traditional route of storytelling – there’s a love interest, clashes with family and friends, and the movie culminates in the Big Game – but everything feels entirely natural, and there’s never a point where the characters don’t dictate the course of the plot. Barrymore should be commended for the care she takes with the material, which turns Whip It into a female version of Breaking Away.
I didn’t really care for Page’s breakthrough roles in Hard Candy or Juno, but she’s irresistible here; her character makes great use of those eyes, wise beyond her years but stuck in a body of a minor, and just trying to cope with it.
Some nice Austin-area touches include the use of artwork and music by Daniel Johnston.
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