Whip It (Ellen Page, Marcia Gay Harden, Kristen Wiig, Daniel Stern, Jimmy Fallon) – Drew Barrymore directed and executive produced this independent film about a young girl who finds her true passion is, of all things, roller derby. For those of us who used to watch roller derby on television years ago, it was a throwback to a time when women performed a sport like professional wrestling. I mean you know the outcome was predetermined and that this was all entertainment, but it looked like fun even though it appeared to hurt … a lot. In a year when “quirky” has defined the best films of this year, Whip It has a Juno feel with a Rocky story line. At its heart, this is all about family: The Texas Cavendars and the Hurl Scouts. The former is made up of Brooke, Earl, Bliss and Shania played respectively by Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden, Daniel Stern, Ellen Page and Eulala Scheel. The main character is Page’s character, Bliss, a 17-year-old high school student whose mom takes her from beauty pageant to beauty pageant, trying to map out a career and a life for her daughter that she always wanted. Harden is very Texan and very perfect as always. Page is saucy, bored, and working part-time as a waitress at a barbecue restaurant with her best friend, Pash (Alia Shawkat).
She goes along with the pageant thing as a concession to mom but when she sees a poster for roller derby in Austin, she and Pash head out to watch. Bliss falls in love with the sport and the women on the hapless Hurl Scouts, all of whom have hearts of gold. This is the biggest stretch of the film but it makes for fun. Barrymore even casts herself as one of the skaters, and she seems to have a great time as the worst of the lot. All of the actresses had to learn to skate well because there is a lot of real skating action. These women share the passion for the sport and truly form a family, welcoming young Bliss to their ranks when she shows some real talent as the speed skating, newly-pseudonymed Babe Ruthless. Bliss finds herself through this new sport. She also finds her first male love, Oliver (Landon Pigg), a roller derby fan and teenage rocker who sings in his brother’s band. As you can probably tell, there’s a bit too much going on here but it isn’t hard to follow thanks to Barrymore. Yes, the direction is a bit spotty in parts and the film is a bit too long, but you could feel the fun the cast had. There is a strong Saturday Night Live feel with Kristen Wiig and Jimmy Fallon in the cast. But the movie feels like a low-budget labor of love that is well worth your time.