Cleaner than Disney

Rating: Null/10 (16 January 2010)

Drew Barrymore's directing debut cum 60th acting appearance (according to IMDb's data bank) is an immensely entertaining movie that is squeaky clean - no swearing, no nudity, no sex (except for the mildest hint), no dirty sports, not even a bad guy! While this doesn't mean one way or the other to this reviewer (thanks IMDb for our recent status elevation from "commenter"), it may be important to some. In Canada, only the province of Quebec has the sense to rate it G while the rest of the country cautiously deals out a PG. Don't even ask why the US gives it a PG-13.
Where Barrymore succeeded where others may fail is in bringing to this movie a fresh look, with material that is so old and cliché that even Clint Eastwood wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole. Just kidding! Seriously, Barrymore's crisp, unpretentious direction gives just the right touch to theme of century-old domestic generation conflict, with a sprinkle of sentimentality perfectly measured to make the concluding reconciliation fresh as a mint drop. The story: 17-year-old suffocated by mother's beauty-pageant grooming finds her true self, sisterhood and happiness in professional roller derby.
It's the roller derby sequences that will make you want to jump out of your seat and cheer. It's Ellen Page, a different Ellen page from what you have yet seen, that carries this movie to a certain height. It's Oscar-winning Marcia Gay Harden that gives you a three-dimensional mother (sorry, not the Avatar kind) that that makes you appreciate both sides of the generation gap. It's an ensemble of good actors that lifts the roller derby athletes out of mere stereotype. It's an inspired script that dares to rebel from the Vince Lombardi mentality. No more needs to be said. Watch, and enjoy.