Whip It
Director: Drew Barrymore
Starring: Ellen Page, Marcia Gay Harden, Kristen Wiig
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for sexual content including crude dialogue, language and drug material.
Whip It was surprisingly good. I would give it a 7 out of 10. It was like a nice lunch on a juvenile stegosaurus (meaty and juicy but not a hearty meal). I had my doubts about this film, it was a directorial début from Drew Barrymore, and while she is a fun actress I wasn’t expecting much from her as a director. However it had the chick from Juno (Ellen Page) and my wife was looking for a chick flick so we took a chance and we were both very surprised (in a good way).
Ellen Page is dang funny. She is a very talented actress and one of these days she is going to get a killer role. Whip It had a bunch of Saturday Night Live guest stars in little parts that added some comedy to the film, but this movie was definitely not an extended SNL clip like so many other films with these actors. It was in fact a very good family/sports/growing up comedy/drama.
Ellen Page’s character Bliss is from a small Texas town just outside of Austin. She is looking for some meaning in her life as her mother drags her from pageant to pageant. She stumbles on a girl’s roller derby league and tries out for the team. The movie is like a girly chick version of Fight Club without the nudity and hidden political agendas. It is a much lighter film than Fight Club in fact, but there is a gritty quality to the roller derby that lends to that kind of comparison.
The movie did take a little while to get going; and the script wasn’t nearly as funny as Juno or Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (two other films I would highly recommend especially if you dig Whip It.) It did however pickup a little bit and became a classic underdog sports story (which actually explained the rules of the game which was nice because there was a fair bit of roller derby action) and couples the sports with a coming of age story that was interesting and humorous.
Whip It was a lot of fun to watch and it was a heck of a lot better than most of films coming out these days. It had realism that most teenager films leave out. Usually you get cheesy teenager films with beginning actors who are barley believable but this one was actually quite good. Like I said earlier it was a hearty lunch, entirely satisfying.
Sex/Nudity – The girls on the roller derby teams all have somewhat scanty uniforms that are made more for show than protection. They show a lot of leg and a fair amount of cleavage throughout the movie. A teenage boy and girl go swimming together late at night. They kiss and take off each other’s clothes down to their underwear. It is implied that they have sex and the girl confirms that later. A girl takes off her shirt to reveal her bra and gives her shirt to her boyfriend; he gives her his jacket in exchange.
Violence/Gore – The roller derby is fairly violent. Women punch, block, and body check each other causing bruises and bloody noses.
Profanity – 20 or so uses of the “B” word, “S” word, and a few other expletives.
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