Outstanding Hollywood mainstream entertainment

Rating: 8/10 (27 September 2009)

There are no bad movies containing "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker" on the soundtrack and "Whip It" is no exception. Drew Barrymore, in her directorial debut, has done everything right, right down to correctly showing that roller derby matches are attended by a few hundred fans in some warehouse, not thousands in an arena.
Ellen Page, as the awkward outsider Bliss who finds her inner warrior (her nom de guerre is Babe Ruthless) on the derby track, is luminous. Barrymore's camera is in love with this young actress' incredibly expressive face. "Hard Candy," "Juno" and now this. Is there anything this 22-year-old Canadian sparkplug cannot do?
The script also does everything right and gives us characters that make sense. Bliss' mom, played by Marcia Gay Hardin, disapproves of her daughter's choice of extracurricular activity, but is just a worried mom, not some harridan. Her dad, played by Daniel Stern, is henpecked, but ends up taking his daughter's side. Also, it's broadly hinted that mom and dad are not estranged in the bedroom.
Barrymore, who plays a member of the team, could easily have put herself out front, but chooses to stay in the background. SNL's Kristen Wiig is tough as nails on the track, but is also a single mom. And there's grinning Zoe Bell, recently seen flopping on a car hood in "Death Proof."
"Casablanca" was churned out as just another studio product when it was made, but certain stars come into alignment — script, cast, direction, etc., and a classic was born. "Whip It" is not in that league, but the same principle applies. Fox Searchlight Pictures was a studio firing on all cylinders when it made "Whip It."