Whip It

Who doesn't like a coming of age film, especially one with equal portions humor, poignancy and ass-kicking! Juno star Ellen Page plays Bliss, a high school senior in the small town of Bodeen,Texas who works part time at The Oink Joint where you if you eat The Squealer in under 3 minutes, you don't have to pay. Bliss' mother was a beauty pageant winner and debutant in her time. Now a post office mail carrier, she is instilling in Bliss and her younger daughter the benefits of doing well in pageants, thus Bliss tries and misfires trying to be a "Bluebonnet". She doesn't fit into the beauty pageant life, nor anywhere. It's just not her but she doesn't know what is. Ellen Page does such an honest and heartfelt performance and this character is totally different from wisecracking Juno. And she pulls it off.

However, once she and her best friend Pash go to a roller derby match in the big city of Austin, things begin to change for Bliss. Turns out she's actually quite a gifted roller skater, she's really fast and lying about her age, she tries out for and wins a spot on the "Hurl Scouts" and her new ass-kicking alter ego Babe Ruthless is born.

What follows is somewhat formulaic: her first love, finding her feet, increased lies in order to hide her new hobby and passion from her parents.  Just as she is hitting her stride and is the break out star of her roller derby group with the championship on the line, her rebellion ends up hurting those closest to her and she's faced with giving up roller derby. Dramatic arc, tears and emotion, a dramatic finale and a happy ending.

But what separate this from your run of the mill coming of age film are two things: the cast and the action.

Cast: Like Juno and Adventureland, this movie captures the quirky cast of supporting characters well, taking some time to understand what motivates them. The roller derby league is hilarious. The names of each team and the characters made us laugh out loud; Drew Barrymore (who also directs) and SNL regular Kristen Wiig in their respective roles of Smashley Simpson and Maggie Mayhem are adorable. Special kudos to Juliette Lewis as Iron Maven (pictured above), who is Bliss' nemesis and who does a fantastic job being tough, sweaty, mean and sexy all at once. Also loved Jimmy Fallon as Johnny Rocket (pictured above), the sleazy and "STD free" roller derby announcer whose explanation of the rules help the movie viewer follow the action.

And guess what? There's a third Wilson brother! Yes, it's true! His name is Andrew and he plays the jean-short wearing, earnest and hippyish coach, Razor, in the film. He is probably the most classically handsome of of the three (hard to tell as he has a big bushy beard in this) but sounds just like Owen Wilson. Loved him!

Action: I like action movies, in Whip It nothing blows up, no explosions or gun fights, but this film offers loads of wince inducing moments where these tough broads (yes, I said "broads") lay into each other. Undoubtedly many of these action scenes were filmed with the actors actually skating at an old man's pace but with wind machines and the musical score creating the illusion of speed and impact. Whatever they did, it worked!

Surprise ending? Let's just say that I like movies where you feel a sense of closure at the end, some triumph and knowing the characters either are or will be okay. If you like that too, then you will feel satisfied at the end of Whip It, even if it's not totally formulaic in every way.

My friends and I bounced out of the theater energized and deciding on our Roller Derby names.I shall now be known as "Vicious Val".

View the trailer HERE. 

I think...it's a fun, coming of age movie that everyone will enjoy, but may be a particularly good fit for mothers and their teenage daughters to see together. 

See you on Twitter! @whatvalthinks.
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