Whip It by Director Drew Barrymore -Movie Review
Ellen Page Stars as a Roller Derby Dynamo
Sep 30, 2009
Bliss (Ellen Page) is a seventeen-year-old high school student who works part-time at the Oink Joint diner. Her mother (Marcia Gay Harden) is a postal worker who is obsessed with having her two daughters enter beauty pageants. She was a winner in the Miss Blue Bonnet Pageant when she was younger and feels the only way they will be able to make good lives for themselves is if they win pageants. And she has her heart set on Bliss winning the Miss Blue Bonnet Pageant. She has even had a gown designed and made especially for her daughter.
But Bliss is more of a bohemian girl. She prefers to wear funky clothes instead of dresses and girly clothes. She loves to wear boots, but not the fashion style. She prefers the combat style. This is not her mother’s image of a young girl, but she goes along with it as long as Bliss wears nice dresses for the pageants.
From Beauty Pageants to Roller Derby
One day Bliss discovers that the roller derby circuit in Austin is holding tryouts. She sneaks off to the big city with her Barbie skates and tries out. Maggie Mayhem (Kristen Wiig) takes a liking to the young girl and encourages her, not knowing that Bliss is only seventeen. Twenty-one is the minimum age for the derby players, but Bliss has everyone convinced she is twenty-two.
The derby girls are more like her than those in the beauty pageants and Bliss finds she is more comfortable skating in the roller derby than anything else she has ever done. The girls are tough, no-nonsense, women with spirit. Their punk rock makeup and love of the game is exactly what Bliss has been looking for. The only problem is she has to keep her secret life secret from her family. The only one who knows what she is doing is her best friend Pash (Alia Shawkat).
Bliss becomes part of the Hurl Scouts team and takes on the name Babe Ruthless. Living a double life might be hard for some people, but Bliss loves her roller derby life so much, she doesn’t mind all the hard work it takes to make sure her parents don’t find out what she is doing. She turns herself into a hard-hitting, fast skating girl who learns to take the bumps and scrapes, and loves it.
But the Iron Maven (Juliette Lewis) has it in for Bliss. Skating for a rival team, she takes every opportunity to get take her shots at the rookie who is quickly becoming the fan favorite.
While Bliss enjoys her life in the Roller Derby, she is also experiencing love. She and Oliver (Landon Pigg) meet at an after-derby party and soon start an intense relationship. This is yet one more thing Bliss has to keep a secret from her family.
A Quest to Find Her Own Identity
But when all her secrets come out, will she return to the domination of her mother or will she stand up for what she really wants out of life? Will she skate or be crowned Miss Blue Bonnet?
The other members of the Roller Derby include Drew Barrymore as Smashley Simpson, Eve as Rosa Sparks, Zoe Bell as Bloody Holly, and Ari Graynor as Eva Destruction. Jimmy Fallon plays “Hot Tub” Johnny Rocket, the announcer for the derby. Daniel Stern plays Bliss’ father, and Andrew Wilson plays Razor, the coach of the Hurl Scouts.
Soccer had Bend it like Beckham, and Roller Derby has Whip It, however the film is more about individuality than it is roller derby. It is an interesting story of growing up and taking control of life. This is one girl’s quest to discover who she is and what she wants out of life. And Ellen Page is perfect as Bliss.
Whip It was directed by Drew Barrymore. It runs 111 minutes and is rated PG-13 for sexual content including crude dialogue, language and drug material.
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