Not all movies are made to be Oscar contenders. Many are made to simply fill theater seats and offer solid entertainment and an enjoyable time. More often than not, these films offer a chance to see heroes made or characters that get the opportunity to follow their dreams. Such is the case with WHIP IT, the directorial debut of Drew Barrymore.
Bliss Cavender (Ellen Page) is an unenthusiastic beauty queen contestant. Fulfilling the dreams of her mother Brooke (Marcia Gay Harden) more than herself, Bliss does as she is told between school and working at the local BBQ restaurant. Bliss feels nothing more than trapped in small town Bowdeen, Texas.
While clothes shopping with her mother in Austin, Bliss happens to see a group of girls on skates come into the store they’re in. Leaving behind a stack of flyers, Bliss picks one up to see that these are roller derby competitors trying to promote their next match.
Sneaking off with best friend Pash (Alia Shawkat), Bliss is totally taken in by the whole scene. The match takes place in a converted warehouse where emcee Johnny Rocket (Jimmy Fallon) announces the girls as they make their way to the track. With names like Iron Maven, Smashly Simpson and Maggie Mayhem you can tell this is no skate in the park. The girls come out rocking and knocking, making an impression on young Bliss. When she tells Maggie afterwards that she is her new hero, Maggie suggests she come to practice and try out.
Once home, Bliss begins skating once more in her Barbie skates, remnants of times gone by. She progresses from just being able to stand to skating through town. The day comes and she sneaks off again for Austin just in time to try out. With more speed than most of the rest trying out, Bliss gets her chance. Now all she has to do is sneak off to the matches.
The girls welcome Bliss in as one of the Hurl Scouts, a losing team that has resolved to stay in last place. But with the speed Bliss shows them and the ribbing they take from the other squads, the team slowly gels into a force to be reckoned with. It also makes Bliss a target for Iron Maven (Juliette Lewis), an aging star who wants to retain her position.
Along the way Bliss also picks up a new boyfriend. Oliver (Landon Pigg) is a member of a band that played at one of the house parties thrown by the team. The pair seems to connect but an upcoming tour tosses them into the possibility of a break up.
As Bliss, now known as Babe Ruthless, moves into the world of roller derby, she begins to distance herself from her friends. And when her parents find out about her lies (as does her team when it’s revealed she’s too young to skate without her parent’s permission), Bliss finds herself alone.
The team now has a chance at the finals. The only thing stopping this from happening is Bliss’ family. Resigned to beauty pageants once more, Bliss heads out to a new contest, her mother’s favorite, the same night as the big contest. Is there a chance of her making it? Come on, this is a movie folks!
Is this movie believable? No way. First off no league would put themselves in the position of being shut down due to a teenager not being old enough. And the chances of walking in off the street and being better than anyone else? Slim to none. But it doesn’t matter. What matters is feeling a sense of hope for Bliss as she has that opportunity to move beyond a life she hates into one she loves, finding that one thing in life that makes her feel more than she has ever before.
The acting in the film is solid, especially by Ellen Page. Changing from the shy Bliss who enters contests at her mothers request to becoming the young woman who makes her own decisions is fleshed out in her performance. Page has done such a great job with various roles in films like JUNO, HARD CANDY and even X-MEN that I’m beginning to think she’s one of the best actresses around these days.
The supporting cast also does a great job. Barrymore takes on a small part as one of the derby girls as does singer Eve and stuntwoman Zoe Bell. But the one who stood out for me was Kristen Wiig as Maggie Mayhem. Wiig is one of the series regulars on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE these days and what I’ve seen of her there is far too over the top. But like Robin Williams when given the right director, she comes through with a great performance as a single mom skater who acts as surrogate mom to Bliss.
Barrymore’s first outing as director shows that she can put together a well made film. It’s entertaining, fun and delivers everything the previews said it would. As I said, this isn’t Oscar material but it is a fun film. Predictable at times but its less about the end result and more about the path taken to get there that makes movies like these work or fail. In this case, the movie works. So take a couple turns around the track and give this one a look.
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