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Reviews of Recent Independent, Foreign, & Documentary Films in Theaters and DVD/Home Video
WHIP IT Although a film may be formulaic, rolling along in well-worn grooves, that doesn’t mean that it can’t be entertaining. Drew Barrymore’s Whip It is such a film. On paper, it’s like Dodgeball, The Bad News Bears, Meatballs, or insert your dime-a-dozen underdog sport comedy tale sprinkled with a little girl power (yes, I know The Bad News Bears WAS sprinkled with girl power). Add to that, it’s the directorial debut of the former Mrs. Tom Green, and it doesn’t sound particularly promising, does it? Ms. Barrymore, however, has done a tremendous job with her film, making this small film about roller derby feel big, bright, and full of life. She’s clearly learned from her experiences as an actor and made great decisions that are reflected in the final product. The first of such is in the casting. Ellen Page leads the top-notch cast as Bliss Cavendar, doing her quirky, worldly, independent, audience-can’t-not-fall-in-love-with-her thing as she seeks her own bliss in rural Texas. Marcia Gay-Harden joins her as her pageant-alumnus mother, Daniel Stern her laid-back dad, and Alia Shawkat (Maeby from TV’s Arrested Development) plays her best friend. To this strong nucleus is added the roller-derby crew, including Ms. Barrymore herself, the hilarious Kristen Wiig, and Andrew Wilson (sporting brother Luke’s Royal Tenenbaums headband) as the coach of Bliss’s team, the Hurl Scouts. Juliette Lewis plays (not surprisingly) the hyper-intense, semi-psychotic rival. There are no risks here, but the cast gives the movie depth and a professional sheen that is welcome. I’ve left the character names out because a number of them are quite funny, and I don’t want to spoil them. The other teams are drawn from professional roller-derby girls, offering authenticity that is captured well by the cinematography. The director of photography, Robert Yeoman, gets out on the track with the girls, right into the pack, allowing you to feel the speed, power, and the wipeouts, pumping up the adrenaline for the otherwise formulaic action scenes. The stunts, where stuntmen cover for the leads, are performed seamlessly (no stubbly stuntmen in wigs). The visual risk taking continues in the non-action scenes with some adventurous choices, such as a lovely underwater kiss. One minor quibble involves the film’s concept of teen rebellion. Bliss’s (and the film’s) concept of it is not even John Hughesian, involving nothing more than hair highlights, T-shirts with the British flag, and rocking out with the Ramones on the car radio as Bliss rejects the pageant circuit (though not ideologically, it’s just not for her) for the mild rule breaking of taking the road less traveled. That’s okay, and perfect for a Hollywood-like film of this sort (and despite being released by Fox Searchlight, it definitely is more gentle Hollywood than quirky, hard-edged indie), but it’s hard not to contrast Bliss’ vanilla search for self with the rocky road backdrop of the film’s roller-derby subculture. Given the aggressive co-opting and reinterpretation of traditional female stereotypes and beauty (sexy costumes, bruises, tattoos, piercings, etc.) in the roller derby subculture, the film misses opportunities to delve deeper into their characters’ identities, their reasons for lacing up the skates. Bliss ends up wearing her Hurl Scout costume unironically, standing out from the pack. This
is a minor issue for an extremely enjoyable film, a success for Ms.
Barrymore that will leave you smiling. It is well worth your time and
the inevitable “inspired by” roller-derby reality shows that will appear
on Lifetime next spring.
Doug Yellin
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