In the name of Girl Power

Rating: 8/10 (21 June 2011)

It is funny to realize how unfair it is that such a gentle, yet unlucky, movie like this has been a failure, while craps like Saw 3D choke up theaters for more than three days. Sweet Bliss, tortoiseshell glasses and clothes only "Ghost World"'s Enid would wear, lives in a small Texas town, studies at the local high school and works as a waitress in a garish diner together with Pash, her wise and chubby best friend (Alia Shawkat, a freckled face perfect for this slightly unrewarding role). Bliss's mother is a former beauty queen, and therefore carries her reluctant daughter to incredibly poor pageants; but, respect to many movie characters of mothers ready for anything, she's a caring woman, who has probably suffered and who wishes all the best for her children. It's easy to notice that "Whip It" is a movie ruled by women, because Bliss, in the attempt to turn her life upside down, tells a lie about her age and enters in an Austin roller derby team. It was only to be expected that Bliss/Babe Ruthless turns out to be born to score points on the skates, finds love in the super-hipster Oliver and friendship in her shabby team mates, but, since we're given an equal quantity of laughters and tears, her choices compel Bliss to neglect Pash and to tell her family too much lies. Plot is more than predictable and follows the structure of sport fairy tales like "Ice Princess", but first-time director Drew Barrymore covers everything with a delicate, feminine, graceful spirit, and builds up a delightful leading lady, whose coming of age can be easily enjoyed. Kudos to a perfect Page, that, even in a less flamboyant role than Juno, forgets the sassy lines and plays a shy girl who gets to know herself and knocks down all her insecurities, in the name of Girl Power. Barrymore makes a movie that recalls the sport movies from the Seventies and the girl power from the Nineties, mixed up in a very faithful portrait of the suburbs and of the provincial way of thinking. The atmosphere turns melancholic in the last quarter, when Bliss must pick up the pieces and fix things with her parents, with Pash, with Oliver, with her favorite team mate Maggie Mayhem. The technical aspects are the weak points. Editing is rough and cinematography tends to zoom abruptly, but Barrymore can still improve a lot. Go girls!