Ellen Page flexes a little muscle.

Rating: 7/10 (5 April 2010)

Whip It fits comfortably into the mold of many sports movies that came before it. Sure, it puts its own spin on things. The female-centered story and the roller derby were all relatively new to me, but the rest is basically the same themes we've seen before. A protagonist who finds confidence in a sport they never thought they would be good at. A rival who turns out to be not be such a bad person, after all. A conflict between a parent who wants one thing for a child, and a child who wants to go down a different path. These situations show up so often in movies, because they make for an interesting (if familiar) story.
Other than Jimmy Fallon (he's just too annoying for me to handle), the cast was pretty great. I love Ellen Page, so it's no surprise that I thought she was a great choice for the main character. There really wasn't much to complain about with this movie, at all. It may be nothing new, but it's well-done. And I actually know some things about roller derby, now.