When I was a teenager in the 70’s, Roller Derby was a big deal. The San Francisco Bay Area was a hotbed of Roller Derby action in the 60’s and the 70’s, and our team was the Bay Area Bombers. I only got to go to a live event once, but I will never forget the adrenaline rush. My friends and I were so hyped up that we became terrors at the local skating rink. Even though it was against the rules we couldn’t help but try a whip. I remember being on the end of this chain of skaters and then flying across the floor. It was a mixture of fear and empowerment. It felt like I was flying.
Drew Barrymore’s film Whip It captured for me the exhilaration of those times. It is a girl power film that is nicely contrasted with the womanly image of the fifties and sixties. I really loved the tone of this film as directed by Barrymore. I also liked the way she put common girl experiences in uncommon locations, for example the fully clothed underwater love scene and the following conversation with mom sitting on the kitchen floor. There are some very nice touches in this film.
Ellen Page (Juno) plays Bliss and her mother (Marsha Gay Harden) is grooming her for pageantry greatness, but her heart is not in it. She dreams of leaving small town Bodeen, Texas, but the thought of being a beauty queen is not her idea of success. When a random encounter with some really tough Roller Derby girls gets her attention, she auditions on a whim and makes the team. Now she has to hide it from her mother.
There are some really nice performances in this film including Daniel Stern as the son-less football-loving father, and Alia Shawkat as Bliss’ best friend. Other standouts include Kristen Wiig, as Maggie Mayhem and Juliette Lewis, as Iron Maven. I really liked this movie. Its message is clean and simple and avoids worn-out clichés. I’ve always been a firm believer in finding your bliss, discovering that one thing that you truly love and doing it. So it is appropriate to me that in this film, Bliss finds her bliss through skating. And all I want to say is, “You go girl!”
Rating: First Run Get out your Barbie skates
About Me
- Melanie Wilson
- My Reviewer's Philosophy: I believe that every film has its audience. One man’s Citizen Kane is another man’s Texas Chain Saw Massacre. My purpose is to help you spend your entertainment dollars wisely. A bad review never kept me from going to a film I wanted to see, but a good review will sometimes get me to a film I never considered. As a movie lover I want you to go to the movies. When more people go to the movies, the more movies get made. But, I also believe that if you enjoy the films you see, you naturally will be inclined to go more often. So join me in supporting our film industry by going to a movie today. Hopefully I can steer you towards a good one. See you at the movies. Melanie Wilson
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