Review of Whip It (2009) by Thomas W — 13 Nov 2011

Whip It is about the wild world of women's roller derby with a young teenage misfit, Bliss Cavendar (Juno's Ellen Page), at the center of it. To her family, Bliss appears to be the normal, average teenager who holds down a part-time job at the local BBQ stand (The Oink Joint) while preparing for life after high school.

What is unfortunate is that Bliss is unhappy with her existence as she is living the life her mother (Marcia Gay Harden) has mapped out for her -- one that includes teenage beauty pageants. One day while shopping in the the "big city" of Austin, Texas, Bliss runs across a flyer advertising the local roller derby.

Intrigued, her and her best friend concoct a plan to check it out. The one night of "adventure" is all Bliss needs to realize the life she truly wants to lead invloves the fishnet stockings, dyed hair, multiple body piercings, massive bruises and numerous tattoos of the roller derby! Bliss begins to lead a double life (her nights away from home supposedly involve a college prep course) since her strict parents would not approve of her chosen lifestyle.

Whip It is Bliss's movie. It is about her finding herself and chosing to live her own life. While this is a good thing, I did have a slight problem with Bliss being 17 but acting as a 22 year old and lying to EVERYONE in her life (except her best friend who knows of the ruse).

No child should have to live his/her parent's life over again; but some maturity is needed in order to start living on one's own (at one point Bliss says she "supports herself" to which her mother reminds her that she simply buys her own shoes).

Whip It is filled with flawed characters who aren't overly likable (I found Bliss to be annoyingly selfish). The film feels like a freshman directorial debut as well -- it is Drew Barrymore's first attempt at directing; but I do believe she has promise.

The film is fun and rough and tough and just when it seems as if Barrymore is going to miss a major moment for moral growth in the film, words of wisdom pour fourth from the mouth of Kristen Wiig (as the film's most sensible and reasonable character)! I really enjoyed the beginning of Whip It but became slightly irritated with it for the middle third.

Thankfully, the final third rebounds and Whip It finishes on a high note. There is a lot of judging and hypocrisy in the film coming from all angles and so Barrymore carefully choses not to play favorites and take sides.

The characters of Whip It could very easily have been one-dimensional; but most of them are much more. I appreciated the strength and power the film gave to women. A lot of female-centric films devolve into catty critiques and infighting; but Whip It never does.

Whip It's good.