Whip It

Rated PG-13
Runtime: 111 minutes

I hadn't honestly intended to see Whip It this weekend. A friend and I had been planning to see something else entirely. But when something else entirely didn't make it to our theatre, Whip It was the one film neither of us had seen that we could both agree we might like. Despite being made somewhat on the fly, that decision turned out to be a pretty good one.

In Whip It, Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page) is a high school senior whose mother, Brooke (Marcia Gay Harden), loves little more than entering Bliss and her younger sister Shania (Eulala Scheel) in beauty pageants. As a former contestant herself, she's convinced pageant participation opens doors that might otherwise remain closed to her daughters. Bliss goes along largely because she doesn't have much of anything else to do.

That all changes when, on a shopping trip to Austin, Bliss picks up a flyer in a shoe store. The ad is for a roller derby event. Bliss becomes fixated on seeing the contest, and convinces her friend Pash (Alia Shawkat) to make the drive. That night, Bliss falls in love not with a boy (although there's one of those, too) but with roller derby. Watching rough and tumble women like Maggie Mayhem (Kristen Wiig), Smashley Simpson (Drew Barrymore), and the incomparable Iron Maven (Juliette Lewis) makes Bliss want something more, something entirely different. And roller derby is apparently the answer she's been seeking.

I vaguely remember when roller derby was on television on Saturdays. I didn't watch it often, but I have to admit that the little girl I was thought those women were awfully tough and very cool. Whip It does a nice job of conveying that feeling to its audience without ever falling too far into any given stereotype. Sure, Bliss is a rebellious teenager, and the boy she meets (Landon Pigg) isn't all one would hope a boyfriend would be. And yes, Bliss' mother is pushy and her father (Daniel Stern) less assertive at times than he ought to be. But both the story and the characters have the unique quality to them that real people have and, as such, it's an easy film to fall into and enjoy.

Ellen Page has been brilliant every time I've seen her, and she's really terrific again here. Although not quite as young as her appearance would lead you to believe, she acts with an ease and simplicity far beyond her years. When Ellen Page weeps, laughs, or screams, I believe her. More important, I feel with her. That's a rare talent indeed! Marcia Gay Harden does a fine job of portraying a well-intentioned mother with regrets of her own, and Landon Pigg is perfectly cast (the actor is also a gifted singer with a new album in which my interest was piqued after seeing him perform in the movie). While the derby girls are supporting cast, several manage to stand out in a very good way, not least of those performances being that of Juliette Lewis. I'm also going to single one man out for special mention: Jimmy Fallon. All but unrecognizable as Hot Tub Johnny Rocket, he's absolutely fantastic as the derby announcer and "hanger onner."

Whip It is Drew Barrymore's directorial debut. While I can't say I saw any particular stroke of genius here, I also can't fault her abilities. There were a couple of shaky moments (one of them being her own over-the-top performance), but I think she'll be a fine director with a little more experience. It didn't hurt that the cast was a good one, or that the screenplay by relative newcomer Shauna Cross was so well written, either.

BOTTOM LINE: I can't say that Whip It is the best movie I've seen this year, but it's not one I regret spending the money to see. That may seem like damning with faint praise, but that's far from the truth given that there are so many movies I can't say that about!

FAMILY SUITABILITY: Whip It is rated PG-13 for sexual content including crude dialogue, language and drug material. I'd say that that's probably just about right. If you've got children, especially girls, who are in their early teens, I'd encourage you to attend Whip It with them. This is one of those rare films that will likely open up channels of communication between you and your kids without any preachiness or syrupy dialog whatsoever.

POLITICAL NOTES: None.