no chemistry

Rating: 2/10 (2 January 2012)

I saw the names of the actors and had high hopes, especially since I talked with a roller derby skater a few months ago and learned how into the sport she was. I'm a fan of Juliette Lewis and Drew Barrymore and thought Ellen Page was impressive in Juno. All of the acting was good, but how much can be done with a weak script? A food fight straight out of Animal House, with Drew Barrymore (seemingly Animal from the Muppets) shouting John Bellushi's line; an underwater make-out scene borrowed from Children of a Lesser God with 1/10 the intensity; these are homages, perhaps, and that's o.k., but I find it hard to believe that new viewers actually buy these scenes. (In Children of a Lesser God, the female lead is known to swim by herself at night, and the male lead confronts her there after they've had a bunch of serious arguments and misunderstandings. Here, the pool comes out of nowhere. The two sneak in and it's hard not to notice all the paddling/kicking necessary for them to stay under water while they eke out this and that kiss. The food fight scene comes out of nowhere, too.) I can't agree with reviews that call this a feminist film. Seems like every character besides Juliette Lewis is gaga after some guy. Not that lesbianism need be in a feminist film, but it's as if the film wants to pound you over the head with the idea that roller derby is feverishly hetero in every way, and feminism (if that's what this is) seems to be defined as women wanting to be boxers and women having no interest in coordinating themselves (learning plays) until their male coach convinces them they should. Because roller derby is cool and promises to be interesting, you can see why good actors would want to get involved. But there was very little by way of chemistry. Lots of forced scenes: "You're not getting it. I love this." Some moments are good, but mostly it's a teenager film, the kind where the 17 year old girl, in addition to being the fastest skater in the league straight after she was barely able to skate, also is infinitely wiser than everyone. A couple of teenagers I saw it with say they liked it a lot, but perhaps they've already put their ratings here.