Whipping familiar ingredients together

Rating: 6/10 (4 January 2010)

With her debut, Drew Barrymore plays safe as far as the story is concerned, but a lot of heart goes into the movie and she proves more than capable as a first-time director.
Whip It goes through the list of clichés of coming-of-age and sports movies. The disapproving parent who's got other plans, the older veteran threatened by the new rookie, the witty girl that wants to get out of town and her somewhat witty best friend. The list goes on and some characters and scenes are homages to past movies (The Manson sisters are basically the Hanson brothers from Slap Shot) or some would say, rip offs.
With the adequate pacing, solid acting and derivative story, this film would normally be worth a 4 or a 5 but what puts it above the average movie is all the conviction put into this. For starters, Barrymore does not go for quick editing tricks in order to cheat on the sports sequences. Instead of going for .5 seconds shots, the camera often sticks to these girls for a few seconds, making the film less flashy but much more organic. The film crew and especially the fantastic cast deserves all the praise they will get here. I cringed thinking of the beating these actresses were willing to take.
These long shots also pay off when it comes to other scenes, such as the underwater sequence which is very lovely and comes off as authentic yet was no doubt the result of some serious work. There is also nice photography and a nice use of music. All these little things added together with interesting casting choices and some cachet make you think Drew Barrymore could have an even more interesting career behind the camera as she's having in front of it.
You'll recognize also a lot of "Barrymorisms". Slightly odd characters, hints of girl power, a love for 80s teenage culture (We're talking about a girl who wore a Judas Priest t-shirt in the blockbuster Charlie's Angels and produced Donnie Darko in all its 80s glory).
I wish the characters had more meat and the story didn't take the easy way so often. I also think the film is light-hearted yet lacks humor. More laughs would have definitely helped this become a classic.
But as it is, it already beats most of the formulaic sports film out there, even if it doesn't bring new ideas to the genre. A final minor point is, I was under he impression Barrymore was constantly flirting between making an all-ages movie or a PG-13. Some scenes come off a little Disney-ish, while others are slightly more adult. Going firmly one direction or the other could have helped.
But a well-deserved 6, close to a 7 for me.