Tom Reviews Whip It

TOM'S CORNER:

Whip It (2009, Drew Barrymore, dir)

I have something to say to Drew Barrymore. Yeah, that's right, I'm going to the head person on this one, having just watched her directorial debut, I have two words for her...

Fuck yeah.

Drew, keep directing. This was an excellent film. And keep your casting people happy and well-paid. They deserve some serious credit.

Our heroine, Bliss (AKA Babe Ruthless, played to perfection by Ellen Page), isn't what her mother (Marcia Gay Harden) wants her to be. On a shopping trip to Austin, Bliss sees some women on skates roll into a store to drop of fliers. She grabs a flier and she and her best friend (Tom's Corner favorite Alia Shawkat) Pash, go to see the girls in action.

All I could say about the ladies of roller derby was awesome. Kristen Wiig was stunning as Maggie Mayhem, Zoe Bell, who you may remember as Zoe Bell in Death Proof, played Bloody Holly, songstress Eve turned out an incredible performance as Rosa Sparks, and rounding out our team, the bloodiest woman on the track, Drew Barrymore herself played Smashley Simpson. The other notable roller queen is Juliette Lewis as the leader of the Holy Rollers, Iron Maven.

Eventually, Bliss tries out for the team, and makes it onto the Hurl Scouts. But how long can she keep it a secret from her parents? And how long can she keep her roller derby teammates in the dark to her being underage?

This movie, which is based on the book Derby Girl by Shauna Cross, was excellent. It's a coming of age movie, to be sure, and does have a few predictable spots, but all told, is one of the best things to come out in a while. The dialogue crackles and the family feels like a real one (thanks in part to the brilliant work of Daniel Stern). Ellen Page has surely been told that she has a career as the “future of Hollywood,” but I think she's much better than that. Hopefully, she's the start of a new wave of excellent actors playing interesting roles.

- Tom