Whip It!

I admit it. I like Drew Barrymore movies. I'm not ashamed that I watched Fever Pitch and enjoyed it. And this movie is no different. It's a good little story about a young girl, Bliss (Ellen Page) living in a small town in Texas and struggling to break out.

Her parents are completely dysfunctional and while her dad wants her to be a football player, her mom wants her to win beauty pageants. Geeze, no wonder the kid's confused. All the acting in it is good really with the exception of Drew Barrymore who's character is a stoner and really just not essential to the plot. I think if the character were a little different it would have been funny.

As the movie progresses, Page discovers roller derby is her way to express herself and so she lies and then tries out for the worst team, the Hurl Girls. She finds herself surprisingly good at skating and takes to it with passion. There's a romantic lead thrown in which really isn't terribly romantic. I think they hired a guy from a band who should have stuck to music rather than try to act. The whole movie is more like a coming of age story on roller skates. Page is still her self deprecating self but not as acidic as she was in Juno. Good movie for a date night at home.

-M