Whip It
Tags: inspiring, romantic, cute, storytelling

Plot synopsis:
Whip-It opens at the scene of a beauty pageant for teenage girls. The organizer is making sure all the girls are ready. Absent from backstage is Brooke Cavendar (Marcia Gay Harden) at the request of her daughter Bliss (Ellen Page). Brooke is a straight-laced, fairly strict mother who works for the US Postal Service and has been raising Bliss to be a beauty pageant contestant.Bliss is frantically trying to wash her hair and is horrified at the results. Her best friend Pash (Alia Shawkat) is unable to help. Looking at a bottle in her hands, Pash insists that it says its results are temporary.On the pagent stage, the girls are each giving a short explanation of why they chose the one person they could have dinner with. When Bliss is called to stage, the piano cuts short and everyone stares. Bliss' hair is a complete mess and there are noticeable streaks of blue. Brooke glares daggers at her daughter as Bliss explains why she would choose Amelia Earhart to dine with.En route back to the parking lot, Brooke grills Bliss about her actions. Bliss can only meekly say she did it on a dare, though when challenged on how it worked out, she can only answer, 'not so great.' Brooke gives a sportsman's hug and congratulations to Corbi, the winner of the pageant, who thanks her modestly and says that Bliss is difficult to beat. Brooke and Corbi's mother briefly discuss the upcoming Blue Bonnet Pageant (Brooke tousles Bliss' blue hair as a reference) before Brooke piles Bliss and younger daughter Shania (Eulala Scheel) into the car. Inside the car, Brooke tells Bliss that even if she doesn't really approve of the pageants, there's a lot she can learn from them.Brooke takes Bliss to the hair salon to get the blue dye washed out. On arrival home, Bliss' father Earl (Daniel Stern) hugs Shania on the trophy she won for her age division. He's heard about Bliss' fiasco and asks about it, and Bliss just sullenly says, 'just defective, I guess,' before going inside the house.Bliss and Pash are at work at the 'Oink Joint' BBQ diner. Neither of them likes their tiny home town of Bodeen at all, wondering why anyone comes into it. Their manager, Birdman, says they can mock the Blue Bonnet pageant all they want, but without the Blue Bonnet factory, Bodeen wouldn't exist. Pash and Bliss think Birdman's promotion has made him too corporate, and they scoff at his saying they need to call him by his proper name, Dwayne, now, saying that Birdman has all he has going for him.A group of teens enter the Oink Joint, including, to Bliss' dismay, Corbi and her boyfriend Colby, and Bliss has to go wait on their table. Pash and Bliss watch Colby successfully complete 'The Squealer' challenge-- a big messy burger that is free of charge if it can be finished in three minutes or less. Bliss has to take a photo of Colby to put on the diner's 'Squealer Wall of Fame.' Corbi's personality is markedly different than the demure manner shown at the pageant; clearly she doesn't really like Bliss at all. Pash is surprised it's the same girl that shared a bed with Bliss during sleepovers.Bliss is lying on her bed, a pageant dress beside her. Brooke comes up to her and offers to bring her and Shania into Austin for some shopping, looking to spend some quality time with her daughters. But Bliss' mood is hardly improved and Brooke and Shania don't notice that she isn't participating in the sing-along in the car. At a shoe shop, Brooke is getting Bliss a pair of boots. At the counter, she sees what she thinks are nice looking vases, but the clerks laugh and she realizes they are phallus sculptures. Horrified, she takes back her credit card and says she's changed her mind. Brooke and Bliss have a small argument about being in a 'head shop.' Brooke tries to sic Earl on Bliss, calling him on her cell phone, but Earl just laughs and doesn't want to be caught in the middle. While Brooke's back is turned, Bliss reaches into her pocket and uses her own money to pay for the boots.Just then, three roller derby girls come skating into the shop, handing out flyers for their home league, TXRD (Texas Roller Derby). Bliss is fascinated and grabs a flyer as she follows Brooke and Shania out of the shop.That night as Pash is about to drive Bliss home from work, she happens to spot the flyer. She realizes the date is the next day. She thinks Bliss meant for her to find it so she would give Bliss a lift to Austin to watch the exhibition, and asks if there will be cute boys there. Bliss just smiles.The next night at Bliss' house, she and Pash lie to Brooke and Earl about going to watch an away football game-- they've even donned jerseys and are holding pennants. They're deeply worried when Earl offers to drive them and watch the game with them, but to the girls' relief, Brooke is happy to have some alone time with her husband. In Pash's car, the girls pull off their jerseys and give squealing laughs as they head to Austin, singing along with a punk song on the radio.At the derby, they encounter a hot-looking boy, and Pash playfully pushes Bliss toward him. They look at each other, but Bliss shyly turns away as the show prepares to start and everyone starts heading toward their seats.The announcer gives the run down of the league's last-place team the past three years, the Hurl Scouts. There are five teams, each with its own theme. The Hurl Scouts wear uniforms resembling Girl Scouts. Skating against the Scouts are undefeated champions, the Holy Rollers, who wear uniforms resembling Catholic School girls. Bliss recognizes the Rollers' captain and league's leading scorer, Iron Maven (Juliette Lewis) as the girl shown in the flyers at the head shop.Bliss and Pash have a great time watching the Derby. Despite the Rollers completely dominating the Scouts, Bliss takes Pash up to a stand just outside the arena (set up right after the derby) where both teams sell various souvenirs and mementos. Bliss tells Scouts team captain Maggie Mayhem (Kristen Wiig) that the derby girls are her new heroes. Maggie realizes Bliss has never been to a derby, and suggests she puts some skates on and become her own hero. Bliss is embarrassed at the idea of skating, but Maggie assures her that all of the derby girls started as complete novices. She invites Bliss to tryouts on Tuesday, the only requirement is that she be at least 21 years old. Bliss and Pash briefly balk (they're only 17), but Bliss lies and says she is 22. As Bliss and Pash walk away, they argue about the invitation. Pash does not want to try out, and she thinks Bliss is too scared to go without her-- aside from how to explain something like roller-derby to straight-laced martinet Brooke. As they prepare to leave, they spot the same hot-looking boy again. Bliss gives a puppy-dog whimper but Pash quickly starts the car up and drives off with Bliss.Bliss dons her 'Barbie' roller skates and begins practicing skating around the neighborhood. On Tuesday she takes a bus to Austin and arrives at the Warehouse where the derby games are held, for tryouts. Maggie sees her and says she's glad Bliss came. As they talk, the coach for the Hurl Scouts, Razor (Andrew Wilson) drives up. Maggie notes to Bliss that Razor marches to the beat of his own drum, but he knows derby extremely well. Inside the arena, Razor explains the rules of roller derby as a number of experienced derby girls give demonstrations. As the tryouts start to skate, Bliss falls a few times but starts to get the hang of it. The potential brutality and room for injuries is shown when Hurl Scout Smashley Simpson (Drew Barrymore) receives a sharp elbow check that bloodies her nose. Razor scolds the two Manson Sisters (Kristen Adolfi and Rachel Piplica) for the move, and we see that the two girls are deaf and only communicate in sign language. Bliss starts to really get the hang of the skating and in the speed trials, she is soaring ahead of the other tryouts. Maggie jokes to Iron Maven that she has some potential competition, but Iron Maven is not impressed. In the locker room when tryouts are finished, she walks up to Bliss as if to introduce herself, but then reveals her true nature and stuffs Bliss into her locker. Razor lets her out and then tells her she's made the Hurl Scouts.Bliss continues to practice skating and gets herself a pair of real derby skates. She changes her work schedule, lying to her parents about wanting to enroll in an SAT class (she needs to go to derby practice). She even wears her skates while on duty at work. Her speed and control in her skates continues to improve, and she is able to stop on a dime and hide behind a tree when she spots her mother on her mail delivery route.At first official practice, however, Bliss begins to see the underside of roller derby. She learns the Scouts are the bottom ranked team and have never really won a match. Facing off against Iron Maven, Bliss finds her small size lets her dart through openings in the pack quickly, but Iron Maven can simply bull through the pack and sharply hip-checks Bliss and knocks her down. Razor scolds Bliss and tells her she needs to be more aggressive-- more 'ruthless,' as Bliss puts it. The Scouts make Razor back off and Maggie confides in Bliss about an ex-boyfriend who was the regional manager and gave her crabs. Her advice is for Bliss to always think about the one thing that makes her angrier than anything else and focus on it so she can be more aggressive, and able to both deliver and receive a 'hit,' any maneuver that involves rough physical contact-- and as Razor had said, derby is a full-contact sport.Bliss manages to sweet-talk Birdman into covering for Pash so she can come watch Bliss at the first official game. The Scouts are playing against the Black Widows. The lead jammer and scorer for the Widows is Eva Destruction (Ari Graynor) who is easily outmaneuvering the scouts, much to Razor's consternation. The Scouts have learned to put up with Razor's constant admonishments and overall attitude about the Scouts' winless record. After half-time, with the Widows having an insurmountable lead, Razor puts Bliss in to skate real derby as the jammer for the first time, asking her to show him why they call her, 'Ruthless.' The crowd gives an appreciative cheer as she is introduced for the first time as 'Babe Ruthless.' One of the Manson sisters takes Eva down allowing Bliss to score four points and everyone sees that what Bliss might currently lack in strength and aggressiveness, she makes up for in speed and maneuverability. The Widows still win the game, as their lead was too great to overcome with so little time left in the game, and Razor tells the Scouts they still suck. But the Scouts, used to him, still cheer and celebrate. They enjoy the game enough to not care. Pash hugs Bliss excitedly and admits she has to eat crow about saying Bliss didn't have the balls to compete.After the match, Smashley brings Bliss and Pash to a house party where the girls can relax and party after the derby (we see Eva and the Scouts' Rosa Sparks (Eve) getting cozy in the hot tub), and points out 'Hot Tub Johnny,' aka Johnny Rocket, the play by play announcer for the games. Bliss and Pash watch in surprise as Smashley suddenly tackles a young man and starts wrestling with him on the ground, but teammate Bloody Holly (Zoe Bell) tells them the man is Smashley's fiancé and they do it all the time. The cute boy Bliss had her eyes on is singing with a band.Bliss explores the house and finds her way to the attic which has a lot of records and a player. She plays one of the records and the young musician she had her eyes on, finds his way to her. His name is Oliver (Landon Pigg). They chit-chat briefly about themselves; Bliss embarrassed as she mentions her job at the Oink Joint in Bodeen (a 'tiny town off of South 84,' as Oliver notes). He says he's going to get something for her, but Iron Maven and some of the Rollers find Bliss first. They grab her and carry her outside the house, tossing her into a hot tub occupied by two men.Bliss goes to the bathroom to clean up and finds Pash making out with one of the rockers. Pash complains of a stomach-ache from a 'little something she'd swallowed,' and Bliss coaxes her into regurgitating it by talking really dirty to her.Bliss spends the night at Pash's house. Pash digs for info on Bliss' 'date' with Oliver. The morning after the sleepover, after Pash drops Bliss off at her home, the Cavendar family's neighbor, Ronny, is placing two signs on his front lawn so all passers-by will see that his sons play varsity football for the local school, along with their first names and team numbers.Brooke goes to get Bliss to take her to the Blue Bonnet Brunch, a pre-pageant event. She's appalled to find Bliss is barely awake and far from ready.At the Brunch hall, they stand in front of a photo of Brooke when she won the pageant back in 1981. Brooke tries to assure Bliss of her talents that will make her a respected veteran of the Blue Bonnet Pageantry. She comments that being pretty doesn't last forever, but Bliss protests that she thinks Brooke is still beautiful even at her current age. Brooke asks how Bliss' inspiration speech (where the pageant competitor explains who is her hero and why), and Bliss says it's almost ready but she doesn't want to share it with Brooke yet.Bliss is at work in the Oink Joint. Pash is off but hanging out there while studying. Bliss and Pash start to dance together to Dolly Parton's song, 'Jolene,' ad-libbing their own lyrics that describe their feelings about the town of Bodeen. Bliss suddenly drops Pash on realizing that Oliver is standing outside. She steps outside and jokingly asks if he's stalking her. Joking back, he says he is. He asks Bliss if she can get a break.Pash (a little reluctantly) covers for Bliss so she can hang out with Oliver. As Oliver drives her through town, Bliss is surprised to find that the band Oliver plays in is professional and has released a CD. Oliver's brother is the band leader. Oliver notes Bliss' shirt is themed after an '80's Christian rock band named Stryper. On Oliver's shirt is simply the number 3.5 million, which is a high score at pinball. He takes her to a diner in Austin where he usually plays, and gives her some pointers. At her suggestion to 'do something different,' he takes her to a wheat field where they gaze up at the sky while singing 'Deep in the Heart of Texas.' Bliss notes she needs to get to derby practice but Oliver keeps throwing his car keys into the wheat field.The Hurl Scouts are returning to their locker after losing again, although Holly notes that the play from Razor's playbook that they used, really worked well and they came closer to winning than ever before. Iron Maven, however, is still not impressed and bops over to the Scouts' locker room to taunt them. Rosa gets very annoyed and confides in Bliss that the Hurl Scouts' attitude about just wanting to skate, regardless of winning or losing, is wearing thin on her. She wants to beat Maven at her own game, and Bliss admits she does too.The next day at school, Bliss and Pash find a 'gift' from Corbi in Bliss' locker: two dark-haired Barbie-like dolls (symbolizing Bliss and Pash, both of whom are brunette) stripped naked and tied together in a pose that resembles an amorous hug. Climbing the stairs en route to their next class, they see Corbi and Colby hanging out at the floor above them. Colby grabs his crotch at them while Corbi giggles. As Bliss and Pash pass, Bliss uses a derby hip-check to knock Corbi off the banister down to the floor below, wiping the sardonic grin off of her face in a hurry.
The Hurl Scouts are skating in a game against a team called the Fight Attendants and as usual they are getting beaten bad. Razor scolds them again and insists they try one of the plays in the playbook, number 3. Horrified at seeing that the Scouts haven't even read that far into the playbook, he decides to use some toughlove. Tearing the page out of the playbook, everyone in the Warehouse watches in amazement as he offers the Fight Attendants' coach $20 to use the play against the Scouts, and a bonus if they score at least three points on it. The Attendants execute the play flawlessly, taking all of the Scouts down, and the Attendants' jammer, Kami Kaze, scores an easy four points. Stung and humiliated, the Scouts go into a huddle where Razor explains play #2. They use the play and Bloody Holly scores a number of points. The crowd watches and even Hot Tub Johnny is amazed as the Scouts suddenly begin to play more professionally, executing the plays in the playbook, and turn the game around, defeating the Fight Attendants to score their first win. The Scouts celebrate, giddy with excitement at finally winning. They commit themselves to studying the plays in the playbook and perhaps even pursuing the goal of handing the Holy Rollers their first defeat.Bliss continues to hang out with Oliver all around Austin, growing very close to him. She is completely gung-ho and unrepentant when she and her parents are summoned to the school to confer with a guidance counselor about Bliss knocking Corbi off the stairway rail. Corbi's leg was visibly bruised and she has to cheer that night for the varsity team. Bliss, however, is the one receiving cheers, from Oliver and the Warehouse fans, as the Scouts defeat the Black Widows in telling style, and Johnny comments that Bliss might be a candidate for Rookie of the Year. She goes to watch Oliver rehearse with the band the next day. Afterward they go to a pond where Oliver tells her that his brother has booked a tour for the band and he'll be on the road for 39 days.That night Bliss is getting off the bus after derby practice. She passes by a van and hears her father inside, calling out in a raised voice in a way that makes Bliss think that Earl is cheating on Brooke. But it turns out he's just watching a football game on a portable TV inside the van, so Brooke doesn't know he isn't working late at the office. He lets her inside to watch some of the game with him and they talk about Brooke. Earl mentions that Brooke is a fierce fighter for everything she believes in. The Blue Bonnet pageant means a lot to Brooke and Earl thinks it's nice that Bliss is going along. Earl lets Bliss sip from his beer can and she nearly finishes it.All the derby teams are at the warehouse mess hall eating, and Razor is addressing them. He distributes flyers showing that the TXRD season championship game is on November 12th. He then yields the floor to Eva Destruction for an announcement.Eva announces that the season "Poster girl" is always announced by a member of another team. Each season the TXRD officials choose one of the league players and makes a poster of them as the "face" of TXRD. She unrolls the season poster to show Bliss as Babe Ruthless, bringing about cheers from the Hurl Scouts.Iron Maven walks up and gives congratulations to Bliss and the Scouts, but while she does so she picks up a french fry and tosses it onto Bliss' face. Bliss tosses back some banana cream pie and a food fight breaks out among all the girls, and even Razor is pulled into it too.At home, Brooke is fitting Bliss into her pageant dress and happens to notice a bruise on her lower back just above her backside. She is horrified but Bliss explains it away with another fib, saying it doesn't hurt.Getting some milk from the kitchen, Bliss happens to glance at the calendar Brooke has on the refrigerator door. The day of the Blue Bonnet Pageant is November 12th, the same day as the league championship... and the Hurl Scouts will be in it if they defeat the Black Widows in the last pre-championship game of the season.The Hurl Scouts continue their winning ways, defeating the Widows to move into the #2 ranked spot for the season, earning the right to square off against the Holy Rollers for the league championship. Just as the game finishes, Fire Marshals enter the Warehouse and order an evacuation: Excitement over the final game has boosted attendance to where the Warehouse has exceeded its maximum permissible capacity under the fire code. Bliss asks Pash to wait for her so she can find Oliver. Disaster then strikes for both of them. Bliss is stopped by an officer who demands to see her ID and threatens to arrest her if she fails to comply. Pash sees an officer approaching and quickly throws away the unfinished beer in her hands, but the officer spots it and confronts her. The officer who had confronted Bliss examines her ID and wants to know why a 17-year-old is so far from her home. Bliss says that's why she's leaving and the officer tells her that's a good idea. Just then Oliver finds her and leads her away, offering to buy her a Cherry Slurpee... but as they walk off, one woman in a small group that was behind them, turns around-- it's Iron Maven in her street clothes. Clearly she's heard everything.Bliss tells Oliver she needs to find Pash, unaware of just how much trouble Pash is in: her wrists are handcuffed behind her and her head is placed flush against the trunk of a squad car.Bliss watches lovingly as Oliver buys the Slurpees at a 7-11. They sneak into a pool and make out under the water, and then have sex at the poolside. It is morning when Oliver drops her off back home. She gives him her Stryper T-shirt as a token of affection and he covers her upper body with his jacket.Of course, reality comes crashing down on Bliss like a ten-ton hammer soon as she walks through the door. Her parents are awake and waiting for her, and furious as all hell. Earl tells her that they got a call from Pash's parents at 3 am. Earl and Brooke looked through Bliss' room and found a TXRD poster. Both Earl and Brooke confront Bliss on her lies. Brooke and Bliss have it out over Brooke's rigid control of Bliss' life, and Brooke's scornful opinion of roller derby girls, who she thinks are unable to attend college, get any kind of loan or credit, find a 'decent' job or marry happily. Bliss calls Brooke's view on pageants a 'psychotic 50's view,' while Brooke feels that roller derby is but a moment in Bliss' life. Before Bliss can stop him, Earl seizes her derby skates from her duffel bag. Bliss storms away, leaving Earl to comfort Brooke.At work, Bliss finds she has also lost the respect of Pash, whom Bliss never did come to find while Pash was getting arrested. Now Pash's car is fitted with a GPS device installed by her parents so they can track her. Pash also thinks roller derby will only last two or three years, and they were both trying to get out of Bodeen, which they both hate, and a criminal underage drinking charge might have destroyed Pash's dream of attending Ivy League.Bliss leaves home and is picked up from work by Maggie, who is taking Bliss in. As Bliss closes the car door, she hears the grunt of a very young child. Maggie has a preschool-aged son, which is the reason she never goes to any of the after-game social events with the other Scouts. Maggie says first she needs to drop her son off at a sitter, and then they stop off at the Warehouse.Bliss finds Iron Maven sitting alone in the Warehouse. Iron Maven was waiting for her. She asks Bliss how old she thinks Iron Maven is, completely untouched and unamused when Bliss mistakes her for 27. Iron Maven says she is 36, and was 31 when she first began skating, because it took until then to find something she was really good at, and she worked gruelingly hard to become that way. Bliss listens numbly as Iron Maven reveals she's learned that Bliss is only 17 and has been lying to all of the derby, her teammates and the officials, about her age. Cutting Bliss off from trying to make an emotional plea, Iron Maven says Bliss might be a well-respected derby girl someday, but warns her that today is not that day, and that if she were Bliss, she wouldn't bother lacing up her skates again. Bliss is completely broken and can only cry.Bliss calls Oliver, needing a friend to talk to her and comfort her, but only gets his voicemail. She tells him she's left home and gives him Maggie's number, asking him to call. Bliss then calls the Oink Joint, asking Birdman if Pash is there. Pash had heard Birdman say Bliss' name after answering the call and shakes her head no sharply. After Bliss hangs up and leaves the pay phone, Pash briefly opens her heart to Birdman, and suddenly gives him a passionate kiss before catching herself and pulling away.Bliss meets the Scouts and Razor in a bar and admits her true age to all of them, to their shock and no small amount of horror-- if she'd gotten hurt, her parents could have sued the league. Maggie points out that Bliss would still be able to play if her parents provided written consent, but of course with Bliss not even living at home or on speaking terms with her parents, that doesn't seem likely. The Scouts are still stung at the revelation of Bliss being a minor, but admit they still love her as a friend-- Smashley even cuts a joke that Bliss could be their mascot.Maggie drives Bliss to school the next day and ends up having a heart to heart talk with Bliss about families, and convinces her that despite Brooke's overbearing attitude, and Maggie's belief that Brooke is wrong about the derby, doesn't mean Brooke is wrong about everything and Bliss is lucky to have parents who care for her so much. She also admits that if her son lied to her the way Bliss lied to her parents, she'd wallop him hard. Maggie finishes by saying that having gained a second family is no reason for Bliss to discard her original one.At school, Bliss goes to the library and hits the website for Oliver's band. But as she looks through pictures of the band's tour, her faces changes. She clicks on one picture to enlarge it, and the photo clearly shows Oliver with one arm around a young blonde woman who is wearing Bliss' Stryper T-shirt.Brooke arrives home from work to find Bliss sitting on the kitchen floor. One look at her daughter's face is all Brooke needs to know that her heart was broken by a boy. Although stung a bit by Bliss' admission that Bliss lost her virginity to this boy, Brooke comforts her as best she can. Bliss mends her fences with both Brooke and Earl, and tells Brooke she will be in the Blue Bonnet pageant. But Brooke, having admitted she can be overbearing at times, shows she cares about Bliss being happy and doesn't want Bliss competing just to please her. Bliss says she'll do it for herself.At work at the Oink Joint, Birdman finally talks Pash into letting go of her anger and grudge. Bliss and Pash mend their own fences and Pash reveals she's gained acceptance into several Ivy League colleges. She's chosen Columbia, meaning she will get to see and live in New York City, news that makes Bliss gush with excitement. Thinking for a moment, Pash asks Bliss if she still has Oliver's jacket. They go around back and Bliss burns it in a dumpster.Bliss and Pash are giving Shania a 'roller derby' makeup job and Pash is confiding having kissed Birdman. Earl enters the room, telling Bliss that Maggie Mayhem is calling. Maggie asks Bliss if she's coming to the league championship game. Bliss says the pageant is also that night and she can't go to the game. Smashley jokingly tries to say she'll set Brooke straight, but Bliss hangs up on them. Pash knows Bliss lied yet again to Brooke, when she said she'd do the pageant for herself instead of for Brooke, and tells her she's selling out.Meanwhile, having heard his daughter's tone of voice as she spoke to Maggie, Earl sensed the strong familial bond. He goes to his computer and googles the TXRD. He marvels at the poster photo of Bliss with her derby name, Babe Ruthless, and he watches a short video post of Bliss in action. He realizes that what he sees on the website of roller derby, it doesn't look so bad to him after all.Earl goes to the Warehouse and manages to get to the backstage locker rooms. Remembering the name Maggie Mayhem from her phone call to Bliss, he has gone looking for her.Earl arrives at the pageant hall; he's driven the Hurl Scouts there. He finds Brooke and confronts her while the Scouts find their way to Bliss' station, and she's pleasantly shocked at their arrival. They talk to Bliss and convince her to 'come home' to them. Meanwhile, Earl finally puts a foot down with Brooke. He explains that he's no longer opposed to Bliss being in the roller derby, and more importantly, what he saw on the internet convinced him that the girls are all having the time of their lives, and he can live with having already spent $800 on Bliss' custom pageant dress, but he cannot live with Bliss losing what appears to be her chance to be truly happy.Brooke enters the dressing room and tells Bliss that Earl is providing her with written consent to play in the league championships. She asks Bliss again if she really meant what she said about doing the pageant for herself instead of for Brooke. Bliss is unable to answer, which tells Brooke all she needs to know. Still struggling to come to grips with Bliss playing roller derby, she nonetheless wishes her luck. Earl gives Bliss her derby skates and all the Scouts cheer. As they all drive off for the Warehouse, Smashley is heard wishing Bliss' friend and fellow contestant, Amber, good luck in the pageant, and Amber is seen in the parking lot wearing Bliss' custom dress.Backstage at the Warehouse, Bliss is surprised at the arrival of Oliver. He says the tour just got back into town and he came straight there to watch the game. Bliss confronts him on the photo, and he insists the girl was just a groupie who was allowed into the van and slipped the T-shirt on, and he never cheated on Bliss. Bliss says that regardless of whether or not this was true, what hurt her most is that Oliver never called her while on tour, either. His explanation toward that is painfully lame. Bliss kisses him, but then slaps him in the face and tells him she would have called... and also, she wants her shirt back.The Scouts and the Rollers stand face to face on the rink just before the game's start. Bliss sarcastically thanks Iron Maven for outing her on her being underage. But Iron Maven insists she said nothing to nobody-- she just wanted to mess with Bliss' head. If she had gotten the Scouts disqualified for fielding an ineligible player, Iron Maven would have left the question of who was the dominant player-- and the dominant team-- unanswered, and she knows that the fans, the rest of the Rollers, and Iron Maven herself, couldn't let that happen.The game starts, and Earl and Shania are seen in the audience to watch, along with Pash and Birdman, who is getting to watch Bliss play for the first time. Quietly, unseen by Bliss or any of the other Scouts, Brooke is seen arriving to watch as well. The game is fast-paced and furious, Iron Maven and Bliss skating their strongest performances. Again, Bliss' small size and speed is her main strategy in picking her way through openings in the pack, but she's managed to harness aggressive feelings, hip-checking Iron Maven and taking her down, which Maven loudly protests to the referee. Smashley gets into several cat fights with one of the Rollers named Princess Slaya, which Hot Tub Johnny says has been going on since the start of the season. Razor wants to shelf Smashley for this, but she protests her head is on the game, and proves it by slipping past Slaya to score four points, instead of trying to do another beatdown. The score is far too close to call, with the Rollers having only a razor-thin lead.The crowd watches as the Scouts close ranks to take down a number of the Rollers. Without even breaking stride, Bliss jumps right over them and sails ahead... but one Roller, Jackie Daniels, rushes at Bliss from the side and body-checks her into the rail hard. Everyone watches as Bliss goes down and Razor rushes to her side. Slowly, but full of determination, Bliss rises to her feet. The fans all cheer, Earl and Shania perhaps the loudest, and even Iron Maven is visibly impressed; nodding in approval.A new jam begins with Bliss again facing off against Iron Maven. They are neck and neck trying to weave through the pack, until the Manson sisters use a double leg-whip maneuver to propel Bliss through and around. Bliss seems about to score enough points to push the Scouts into the lead, but suddenly Iron Maven and several other Rollers close ranks just as the Scouts had done to them. Bliss and the other Scout blockers go down, and Iron Maven scores two points to give the Holy Rollers their third straight championship win, allowing them to remain completely undefeated for three years now.Despite their win, even the Holy Rollers know they must share the spotlight with the Hurl Scouts, whose performance had improved so much over the season. Even Razor cannot deny just how much heart the Scouts put into the game, and tries to hold back tears of prideful joy as he gathers them together for a team hug and cheer. The Scouts skate around the track as the Rollers stand at the rail to exchange high-fives. As Bliss reaches her, Iron Maven clasps and holds on to her hand, congratulating her on her jump. Bliss teasingly offers to teach it to her some time. Iron Maven actually smiles genuinely at Bliss for the first time as she skates off. Knowing that she has won Iron Maven's respect is the clincher that tells Bliss she's found her calling.After the game, outside the Warehouse as the souvenir stalls have been set up, Earl is buying a few things for Shania when Bliss finds her way to them. Earl tells her the game was unlike any ball game he's ever watched, and hugs her proudly. But the true reward for Bliss was seeing that Brooke had come to watch the game. Bliss says she wants to move to Austin and make a career out of playing roller derby, but she needs to know that her mother can accept it. Brooke admits that it will be a difficult struggle, but promises to do her best.The next morning, Amber goes to the Cavendar house to return the pageant dress. She also gives Brooke a card Bliss had left at her station. Amber had come in second in the pageant and Brooke congratulates her.Sitting down on the sofa, Brooke reads the card: it's Bliss' inspiration speech. In the speech Bliss declares Brooke herself to be Bliss' hero. The poignant letter ends with saying that although she'd be delighted to win the pageant, what truly mattered the most to Bliss was knowing that her mother was proud of her. Brooke is moved to tears after she finishes reading the card.Outside, Earl places a sign on his lawn with Bliss' derby number, derby name, and the league name (TXRD), facing the two similar signs placed by neighbor Ronny on his own lawn for his sons' varsity football.The movie closes with Bliss sitting atop the pig sculpture on the roof of the Oink Joint, looking up at the sky and smiling as she contemplates the new life ahead of her.

Review: But now movie goers across the country will begin seeing her in a new light- director."Whip It," which stars Ellen Page (Juno), Marcia Harden, and several other notable actors/actresses is a fun filled, action packed, emotional film that forces you to give an old fashioned thumbs up as you leave.Page is fantastic in her role, perfectly capturing the rebellious, curious character of Bliss Cavendar.
It feels as though all of us at one point in our lives were like Bliss, longing to live a different life.If you want a great night at the movies, if you want a solid movie with enjoyable memories, and if you want to answer that question of "I wonder how Drew Barrymore would be as a director," go see Whip It. You'll be pleasantly surprised..
This is quite an impressive directorial debut for Drew Barrymore (who also stars).Barrymore works with a Shauna Cross script (based on her own novel Derby Girl) and an all-star cast featuring Ellen Page, Marcia Gay Harden, Daniel Stern, Kristen Wiig, Landon Pigg, Jimmy Fallon, Eve, and Juliette Lewis.Page is Bliss Cavendar, whose mother (Harden) sees her daughter in gowns and crowns as she continues the family tradition of winning beauty pageant trophies.
This sets up a family confrontation that is the stuff of classic coming-of-age stories.The film starts out slow then whips into action, its brilliant ensemble cast hitting its stride and functioning like a winning roller derby team (without the bruises).
Kristen Wiig was her usual funny self, The rest of the cast, including Zoe Bell (excellent in Tarantino's Deathproof), Juliette Lewis, Marcia Gay Harding, Daniel Stern, Drew, Jimmy Fallon, all performed well.
In a sense this is a 6 or 7: a kind of kookie inspirational sports movie - fun, energetic, easy to watch and easy to like.However it gets a 9 because I cannot recall any film that truly takes the conventions that male cinema does so well and wholesale translate them to something that girls will love.This film isn't sappy but it isn't about masculine heroism - it is about women having a great time being truly what they are - not 1950 prissies, but punky, spikey, ironic, sexy and just plain fun.Whip It has great roller derby sequences but more than that and more than most male sports movies we get to see the personalities of those involved and they shine.Drew Barrymore knows films - she's being doing it all her life - and this may look lightweight and simple, but the way the camera tells the story is excellent - it is all well-composed and supported by a tip-top script and a great cast.
Enticed by free t-shirts and comfortable seats, two of my friends and I made the journey to Alexandria last Saturday to catch the sneak Preview of Whip It. Upon our arrival, our expectations were not high, as none of us were fans of Drew Barrymore.Once the movie began, however, our opinions quickly changed.
Sure, Bliss Cavendar is almost identical to Juno MacGuff (and not just because Ellen Page plays them both), it follows a similar 'finding oneself' story arc, there are eccentric yet lovable parents and it prides itself on the unique dialogue flowing throughout; however Whip It has something up its sleeve to give it its own recognisable edge – roller-derby.
A special mention to Marcia Gay Harden and Daniel Stern as well, they play Bliss' old folks with warmth and likability, never allowing them to become the typical misunderstanding parents you often find in these movies.A laugh-a-minute affair with a bigger than average heart.
Both girls have crushes and relationships with the opposite sex, both end differently.The main difference in Whip It, which makes the film really stand out, is the relationship with Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page) and her mother (Marcia Gay Harden).
During the training, some of the actors would yell out "I am hurting" and the trainers would yell back "Keep Skating".The movie scenes of Roller Derby action look extremely real as Drew used hand held cameras for a lot of the action.
Marcia Gay Harden is total perfection as Bliss Cavendar's mother, bringing such a realness to her character, and Ellen Page and Alia Shawkat have realistic chemistry that pulls you into their friendship.
Harden is the one time beauty pageant queen pushing her daughter that direction, while Stern is the sports loving dad seemingly stuck with two daughters and a very controlling wife.Nice to see stuntwoman supreme Zoe Bell get another real acting gig after stealing Tarantino's Death Proof, and Juliette Lewis really chomps down on her role as the jealous oldtimer in the league.
I don't know why I expected a roller derby movie directed by, of all people, Drew Barrymore, to be any good.
Barrymore also co-stars alongside Ellen Page, Alia Shawkat, Marcia Gay Harden, Kristen Wiig, Juliette Lewis, Jimmy Fallon, Daniel Stern and Landon Pigg.Bliss Cavendar (Page), is a bored teenage girl stuck in a rut in Bodeen, Texas.
Thanks to her ability the "Scouts" start to turn around their season, however, with a new boyfriend on the scene and her parents unaware of her secret life, Bliss' new found happiness could come crashing down around her.In spite of some favourable critical assessments, Drew Barrymore's directing debut barely made a dent at the box office.
The story of an off-beat 17 year old, well played by Ellen Page, finding herself by secretly joining the roller derby in Austin, Texas may be clichéd on the surface, but the lovely character detail and successfully offbeat casting make the film a quirky, likable winner.
I really wanted to like this movie, it had hot bad girls in mini skirts (so you can see their panties-what I am a man) being rough and acting tough, a killer soundtrack, an interesting story (based on a real league out of Austin Texas), and good acting, but in the end was just another predictable Hollywood movie for the most part.
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.
"Whip It" is a pretty fun movie, even if you know where it's all going to go in the end.Bliss Cavendar ("Juno" Ellen Page) is searching for direction in her life, stuck in a dead-end job as a waitress in Bodeen, Texas, and living under the misdirected beauty-pageant guidance of her loving but dominating mother (Marcia Gay Harden).
Playing under the derby name "Babe Ruthless," she comes under the guidance of fellow player Maggie Mayhem (Kristen Wiig) and Coach Razor (Andrew Wilson), and makes mortal enemies out of star, and rival player, Iron Maven (Juliette Lewis)."Whip It" was wicked fun at the movies, made even more fun by its mix of comedy, drama and teen romance, plus its girl-power attitude and proto-feminist undertones.
Instead, she goes for the gold and makes a fun little sports chick-flick that is confident, assured, emotional and above all, fun.Page is also quite good, playing almost the exact opposite of her "Juno" character, because this time her Bliss Cavendar/"Babe Ruthless" is somewhat of a dork, quiet, and doesn't give off as much sass.
I was able to better relate to her character here than I did in "Juno," even though I really like "Juno"; I just had a little bit more fun with Bliss than I did with her character three years ago."Whip It," which was adapted from the 2007 book "Derby Girl" by Shauna Cross (also the film's screenwriter), is an astoundingly fun and well-made little feature from Drew Barrymore, one of the industry's most seasoned pros under the age of 40.
Still, it is well done, and helps to highlight the alteration and maturation of Bliss during the course of the year.Finally, it must be said Drew Barrymore does an excellent job both on-and-off the screen, as the constantly-brawling character Smashley Simpson and as the director and producer.The movie has an excellent range of silly to sincere.
Drew also co-stars, but she's a side character and non-essential to the plot.The story revolves around 17 year-old Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page), her parents (Daniel Stern & Marcia Gay Harden) and her best friend, Pash (Alia Shawkat).
Take, for instance, the so-called Manson Sisters, played by Kristen Adolfi & Rachel Piplica; both are just jaw-droppingly gorgeous throughout the film and worth the price of admission -- stunning examples of womanhood.There's a subplot about Bliss falling for a guy in a rock band (Landon Pigg) and there are other characters, like the coach, the derby announcer and the Hispanic manager of the restaurant Bliss & Pash work at (Andrew Wilson, Jimmy Fallon and Carlo Alban respectively), but this is mainly about Bliss, her family, Pash and the derby girls.FINAL SAY: The drama in this coming-of-age flick is a mixed bag; I found the love story kind of tedious but enjoyed Pash and the family dynamics of the Cavendar household.
Drew Barrymore made her directorial debut in this funny, realistic tale about a girl named Bliss Cavendar from suburban Austin, Texas who became a roller derby girl on a team.
The supporting cast is first rate with Jimmy Fallon; Drew Barrymore; Academy Award nominees Kristen Wiig as a single mother and Juliette Lewis; Daniel Stern as Bliss' father and other familiar faces.
The feature is strong on performance level by the protagonist Ellen Page and her brilliant supporting cast like Kirsten Wiig, Drew Barrymore and even Jimmy Fallon on occasions; he is hilarious in here.
And we can tell what might happen by the end, save for the outcome of the Championship game, which is thankfully unpredictable.But even if the story is just OK, again, Barrymore proves herself as a very fine actor's director, bringing out some excellent work from her fellow Derby players (Zoe Bell, Kristin Wiig, rival player Juliette Lewis in her best role in years), and Bliss' parents, Marcia Gay Harden and the criminally underrated Daniel Stern (great to see him getting work again).
It's easy to notice that "Whip It" is a movie ruled by women, because Bliss, in the attempt to turn her life upside down, tells a lie about her age and enters in an Austin roller derby team.
After watching this movie, I'm tempted to see if there are any roller derby events in my area.Whip It probably isn't going to win any major awards, but it's well worth two hours of your time, and it holds its own against other coming-of-age comedy-dramas..
i saw this lowering my expectations knowing that it was gonna be the average teen movie.it wasn't bad but they could have made it better.more jokes,they could have made this movie more fun.there wasn't enough roller derby scenes,how they work as a team.instead they spend a lot of time developing an unnecessary love story,and focusing on ellen's boring parents.acting was okey,but the characters weren't interesting.they could have hired a better actor for the coach.ellen page does a good job and looks cute like always.but they don't develop her character in a believable manner.we don't get to see how she turned into this kick ass roller derby girl.its like they didn't know what to do with all these characters and the plot wasn't interesting either.but it wasn't a terrible movie,it was a nice movie about a cute little girl growing up in a small town and i liked it.i just wish they made it more interesting and fun.
Whip It is about a small town high school student played by Ellen Page who joins a roller derby team without her parents knowledge.
That's why the characters, mostly, don't even talk themselves (there's a beautiful love scene, shot underwater, that begins with pure gestures and concludes the same way, with expressive looks and absolutely no words), except for 'Hot Tub' Johnny Rocket (played by Jimmy Fallon who, well directed, is actually good, and achieved the best performance of his career alongside Barrymore in "Fever Pitch"), the narrator of the roller derby games, a necessarily unbearable character that goes against the quiet nature of the film.
Jimmy Fallon is surprisingly funny as the Roller Derby Announcer, while the "other" Wilson brother, Andrew, plays a passionate yet tender Roller Derby coach just perfectly.In a scene where Ellen's character is confronted about her Roller Derby escapades by her mother and father, the acting is of such a high quality, one feels like they have been thrown back into their own childhood, coming home to that disappointed parent.Juliette Lewis is also such a wonderful villain in this film.
But along the way Bliss falls for a local musician, Oliver (Landon Pigg), forms a friendship with her captain Maggie Mayhem (Kristen Wigg), forms a rivalry with the star power of a rival team, Iron Maven (Juliette Lewis) and has to hid her new activity from her parents.Whip It is both a sports film and a coming-of-age story and Barrymore and her writer Shauna Cross was able to balance both elements perfect.
Barrymore was able to mix the comedy and drama to great effect, being funny with dialogue and physical humour whilst allowing Bliss to grow from an unhappy girl to a self-confidence young woman who finds her scene of belonging in the world.I am personally not a fan of Page, but I think in Whip It she delivers her best performance so far.
And there is plenty of fun to be had in this story of the rollicking roller derby girls and the newcomer to the sport who is determined to be her own hero.While Barrymore deserves due credit for her directing work the movie is largely Page's to carry and she is certainly up to the task.
WHIP IT is Drew Barrymore's film debut, and stars Ellen Page in a film about roller derby, a sport that I was beforehand unfamiliar with.
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.
I have never been interested in sports, but I remember that I stayed hypnotized when I discovered the Roller Derby in some cable channel back in mid-80's.That "sport" consisted in ferocious female competitors skating, brutally beating to each other, and suffering apparatus falls (I never understood the rules of the Roller Derby).And the setting of that confrontation was a futurist oval track which seemed to have been copied from the excellent sci-fi film Rollerball (1975).Nevertheless, my interest in the Roller Derby quickly vanished, and I supposed it had disappeared from Earth.However, thanks to the film Whip It, I found out that the Roller Derby is still alive.And even though I liked this movie, I found out that the Roller Derby does not fascinate me as it did quarter a century ago.The use of the Roller Derby as part of the story from Whip It might seem innovative, but in fact, its screenplay basically consists on the typical formula of growth and overcoming which has been used in many movies.Fortunately, director Drew Barrymore could assemble a group of actresses whose natural friendliness and instincts for the humor darken the lack of originality from the screenplay to some point.Ellen Page is perfect in the leading role, adding sincerity and an acid sense of humor to a character who deceptively seems easy to interpret.As Page's character's mother, Marcia Gay Harden finds a credible balance between unconditional maternal love and strong will.And I also liked the performances from Kristen Wiig, as a counselor and confident from the main character; Juliette Lewis as an arch-rival; and specially Alia Shawkat as the main character's best friend.I am afraid that Shawkat is starting to show the first symptoms of the "Judy Greer Syndrome", which will condemn her career to supporting comic roles for lacking of the required "sex appeal" to win leading roles which could take her to the stardom, something she would really deserve due to her big talent.Whip It is not the kind of comedy which provokes constant laughs; instead of that, it creates an atmosphere of friendly humor impulsed by the characters' personalities and the unexpected contrasts between the normal difficulties they have to face and the surrealism from the sport they practice.As for the negative elements, I have to mention the forced romance the main character has with a generic beau; and the presence of scenes which make the movie longer than it should, and of weak pauses which obstruct the narrative flow.However, despite its fails and the fact that it is not very memorable, Whip It kept me entertained most of the time, and I think that is enough to make it worthy of a moderate recommendation..
i have mixed feeling on this movie.i was really looking forward to it and had fairly high hopes for it.i don't quite think it lived up to my expectations.however,i liked it more than i didn't,as the positives outweighed the negatives.i'll start with with what i didn't like.the first thing was i thought the movie was too slow at times.and it takes too long too get going.and the whole 'someone lives in small town and hates it and want to get out scenario' is all too familiar.i realize this is necessary to get to know the characters,but for me the least amount of time spent on that familiar scenario without compromising the integrity of the character development-the better in my opinion.once we get to the meat of the story,the whole roller derby aspect,that's when the movie picks up.Ellen Page is good,as is most of the rest of the cast.the only two people i didn't care for were Drew Barrymore and Juliette Lewis.i just didn't buy them in there respective roles.i just think they're both a bit old to be portraying those types of characters convincingly.maybe i'm way off there.on the other hand hand,i thought Kristen Wig was fantastic.anyway,the movie was mostly entertaining.for me,Whip it is a 7/10.