Rolling Right Along

Rating: 8/10 (25 November 2010)

Meet Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page), 17, a student at suburban Bodeen HS. Her mother Brooke Cavendar (Marcia Gay Harden) is pushing her into the round of beauty pageants. At a petite 5'1" she's hardly the hostess model type in an evening gown that wins the bouquet of roses even if her inclinations were in that direction.
On a chance visit to Austin, Bliss meets up with some tough chicks in roller derby who tell her she has to be her own type of hero. With old Barbie doll skates recovered from the attic, Bliss tries out for the team. Size and speed work in her favour for a change.
Now on the team Bliss begins a secret life as a roller derby star under the handle "Babe Ruthless."
What will happen when her two life paths collide. The film is a sensitive coming of age film revealing the essential conflict between parent's ambitions for children and young adults pulling away. There are excellent scenes on the skating floor.