Usual Ellen Page

Rating: 5/10 (15 October 2009)

I really wanted to like this movie.
Things I liked: Andrew Wilson, Juliet Lewis, "Cousin Maebe," Marcia Gay Hardin, Kristin Wiig, and Drew Barrymore. Andrew Wilson, the brother of Luke and Owen, is HOT. The whole movie, I was thinking, "Who IS this guy??" He acts well, too. LOVE Juliet Lewis. She wasn't too famous to be seen all greasy and trashy. I usually can't stand Marcia Gay Harden (except for her cameo in Law and Order, Criminal Intent), but I loved her in this. She is very believable in her mail carrier's uniform. I like the choice of Landen Pigg as the first love. Nobody's first boyfriend is a confident hunk. Your first love is always a skinny, awkward, average-looking guy. I loved the funny names of the skaters.
Things I didn't like: Much like Arnold, Sylvester Stallone, or Tom Cruise, Ellen Page plays the same character in every movie. The I'm too smart for you precocious teenager ("I'm from the bustling metropolis of Bolene, Texas.") Why didn't she have a Texan accent? Ellen's character is supposed to be a super fast skater, but Ellen Page can NOT skate! She looked like she was about to fall down in every skating scene. The food fight scene and underwater scene were completely gratuitous. The underwater love scene seemed like it was done just so they could say, "Hey. This is the first completely underwater love scene in history." It was completely unromantic. So much time was wasted on stupid stuff that could have been better used. Eve plays the token black who doesn't get any lines.