Whip It… Whip It Good
Making her directorial debut, actress Drew Barrymore gives female roller derby movies a rejuvenation not seen since Raquel Welch “graced” the silver screen as K.C. Carr in 1972’s “Kansas City Bomber“.
“Whip It“ stars Ellen Page (“Juno”) as Bliss Cavendar, an indie-rock loving misfit, a combat-boot-wearin’ square peg in the very round hole of Bodeen, Texas, where football and beauty pageants are the portals of life, yet she finds a way of dealing with her small-town misery by discovering a roller derby league in nearby Austin.
Incorporating elements of ”Bend It Like Beckham“ (deceiving the parents who are played very well by Marcia Gay Harden and Daniel Stern) and “Slap Shot“ (lower levels of a given sport replete with a team of distinct characters) “Whip It” comes across more representative as Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”, a female empowerment fable.
Written by Shauna Cross, it is based on her semi-autobiographical novel, (Cross is a former Roller Derby skater with the Los Angeles Derby Dolls.) She skated under the name Maggie Mayhem with a team called the Sirens. Have no illusions, the film incorporates many of the typical teen angst and sports-movie cliches — parents who don’t understand, that first love, followed by the first heartbreak, and yes, the “big game” with the star’s character arc on the line, yet with the help of veteran actresses Barrymore and Juliette Lewis, “Whip It” is a fun little romp.
