Last night I watched the cute roller derby flick “Whip It.” The directorial debut of one of my favorite comedic cuties, Drew Barrymore and based on the novel “Derby Girl” by Shauna Cross who also penned the screenplay. It was an admirable effort by Barrymore and I think she could really grow into a great director one day. For being in the biz since the age of 5, she seems pretty comfortable getting what she wants from the actors and scenes.
The film stars Ellen Page (“Juno”) as Bliss Cavendar, a 17 year old girl living in the nowhere town of Bodean, Texas. Her mother, played by Marcia Gay Harden, is pushing her into a pageant filled life that does not seem suited to Bilss’ alternative style. On a shopping excursion to nearby Austin, Bliss finds a flier for roller derby tryouts and becomes intrigued. She tries out and lands a spot on the underdog team, The Hurl Scouts, and discovers her true…uh..Bliss.
Yeah. I said it. Cheesy I know.
The misfit derby chicks that Bliss finds herself thrown in with become her second family and show her what it means to be a tough cookie (coincidentally the name of the L.A. derby team the Hurl Scouts was based on is called The Tough Cookies). Bliss gets taught how to perfect her alter ego as “Babe Ruthless” by her teammates (Barrymore, Kristin Wiig, Eve), her opponents (an awesomely villainous Juliette Lewis) and her under appreciated coach, Razor (Andrew Wilson, one of the lesser known Wilson brothers).
The highlights of this picture for me were the supporting characters. Kristin Wiig is so on my heart list for her role as Maggie Mayhem. Her scenes in the car with the boy who plays her son reminded me very much of how I see derby moms interact with their kids. And Jimmy Fallon nailed the dorky and slightly creepy emcee, ‘Hot Tub’ Johnny Rocket.
The downside? Unnecessary underwater scene. I will say no more.
If you have not been to a real derby bout yet, then check out who your local team is and get some tickets. They kick as much butt in real life that they do on the silver screen. It is a great sport that encourages girls of any age/shape/size to skate fast and hit hard. On the track and off.
Bottom line, this is kind of your standard sports movie (underdogs, teen romance, lessons learned, etc), but it has the bonus of depicting a sport that has not really been spotlighted by Hollywood before and has been steadily growing in popularity for years now. Derby can only benefit from the publicity of this touching little story.
P.S.
Another great derby flick to check out? “Blood on the Flat Track”, a film featuring Seattle’s Rat City Rollergirls.