Whip It Review

Drew Barrymore, the Hollywood starlet once infamous for churning out forgettable romantic comedies and flashing David Letterman, has finally crafted a new identity, exhibiting an unexpected knack for quality filmmaking in her directorial debut, “Whip It.” Using a platoon of accomplished stars, colorful characters and a solid indie-rock soundtrack, Barrymore overcomes a fairly banal script and forges a fantastic film.

Ellen Page (“Juno”), suffering from an unfortunate bout of typecasting, stars as Bliss Cavendar, a denizen of Generic Small Town, TX. Her quirky, rebellious nature is suppressed by the cultural limitations of her hometown and her overbearing mother (Marcia Gay Harden, “The Mist”), who is obsessed with entering Bliss into beauty pageants. Bliss eventually finds her calling, however, in the extreme underground sport of women’s roller derby, regularly sneaking off to Austin where she tries out for, and eventually joins, a derby team.

Predictability ensues, as the film follows the conventions of every “follow your dreams, defy authority” narrative. Still, the plot’s obvious points are far from being a detriment to the film — in avoiding a complex, sprawling story, "Whip It" is able to focus on substantially fleshing out its characters and giving insight into nearly all of the film's numerous supporting roles.

Check out the full review here.