Whip It
Where the hell did Rollerderby come from? It seems that within a matter of two months, every man and his dog (or maybe just my immediate circle of friends) has started talking about it. The release of Whip It has seen a tenfold increase in interest according to a recent article.
Coming in as Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut, Whip It is essentially a coming-of-age tale set against the backdrop of suburban Texas and the Rollerderby scene. Featuring an interesting and varied cast, the movie tells the story of Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page) – your typically bored teenager. Page has basically cemented herself as the twenty-something hipster douchebag’s wet dream with this role, portraying Bliss with just the right balance of angst and awkward cool. It’s not hard to imagine the character as the same one from Juno with a few years on her.
Solid backing performances come from Juliette Lewis (yay!) as the acerbic Iron Maven (I have now basically decided to name all my prospective offspring with cool Rollerderby titles), Kristen Wiig as the matriarchal Maggie Mayhem and Marcia Gay Harden as Brooke Cavendar. As a side note – I have a completely pointless deep-seated hatred for Harden ever since she played the horrible evangelical zealot Mrs. Carmody in The Mist. Back to the supporting cast – each character is well defined and their relationships with Bliss are detailed and well written. Oh, and as another side note – I reckon that Kristen Wiig is one of the most underrated female comics in Hollywood today (Saturday Night Live aside). Give her more lead roles directors, please.
It is not hard to see this as a “chick-flick”. Whip It piqued my interest mainly because of the Rollerderby element (and my penchant for aggressive tattooed women). Male characters are largely throwaway with the exception of Daniel Stern’s laid back Earl Cavendar (I don’t think I have seen him in a movie since Home Alone 2).
Being a coming-of-age tale, there are several standard themes blatantly apparent throughout the film. Acceptance from friends, family and peers is the most obvious, followed fairly closely by the struggle to establish an identity. There is a romance subplot that is a little overblown and awkward (there is one particularly painful scene in a swimming pool that made me quite nauseous). Barrymore deals with each theme in in a relatively innovative fashion whilst keeping it light-hearted (it would’ve been easy to let this movie get too ‘heavy’).
At the end of the day, Whip It is a good film and a great start for Drew Barrymore as a director. She has managed to take the coming-of-age (have I used that phrase too much? Oh well) story and give it a vigourous shake and a twist. Ellen Page turns in another great performance but I am worried that she will be typecast as a struggling youth – hopefully she branches out in her next project (which happens to be Peacock, a psychological thriller – in which she plays a young single mother. Whut). As far as my opinion goes – get out and see this in its last weeks at the cinema. If you need more convincing, check out the trailer below.
