All hail Ellen Page

Rating: 7/10 (5 January 2011)

In many respects, "Whip It" is not that great a movie. It's horribly predictable, both in plot and pacing. The supporting characters (Bliss' parents, best friend, rival pageant queen, some of the other roller girls, the love interest) are drawn staunchly from stock. There's some pretty bad acting, too (Juliette Lewis is downright cringeworthy, and Drew Barrymore's funny but more than a little over the top).
Really, it all comes down to whether we, the audience, care about Ellen Page's character Bliss. And the tiny Canadian shines. It's meaningless and banal to directly compare one performance to another, but I'll say that this performance of Page's is as impressive and engaging as any in her career, and certainly made me an (even bigger) fan of hers. She succeeded in creating a character around whom the story really works well.
There's other good points, to be sure. I enjoyed Kirsten Wiig as Maggie Mayhem. Andrew Wilson as the 'zen master' of roller derby and play-by-play man Jimmy Fallon were both an absolute stitch. But without Ellen Page, this movie probably falls flat on its face. And with her, it's a good, solid 7/10.