6: WHIP IT!

Immediately from all the promotion that accompanied this film it should be fairly apparent that Whip it is a chick flick. By that, I am not referring to a romantic comedy, where the girl is a streetwalker who meets a millionaire and they live happily ever after and VD free. No a chick flick is essentially a film where the lead protagonist is, obviously, female and becomes content with her own place in the world. It is actually a far more interesting spectacle than the stereotype that often accompanies the label. In this regard, the film is a coming of age chick flick cum sports movie. Not just any movie, a roller derby movie.

To explain the sport in the review would not do it justice as it is a visual sport like few others, and director Drew Barrymore (making her directorial debut) imbues the sport with the same energy to watch as it does to play it. If Ben Affleck can make a forty-man shootout seem immersive, it is even more impressive that eight women on roller skates can seem as equally immersive and urgent. One of the great strengths is that Barrymore makes the sport seem fun, often sports movies (which admittedly this hardly is) shy away from their sports focusing instead on the people. Her camera is constantly moving, and following these girls, keeping up with them so as not to slow the pace of the matches. If the pace was lost during these matches then the film would have seemed at best a parody, at worst embarrassing. To her eternal credit, these games become some of the tensest scenes of the year.

The other truly commendable feature of the film is Barrymore never overdoes it. The film could have drowned in self-importance in its subject matter. Any film featuring a girl in her late teens trying to find herself has the issue of making the story seem meaningful, but the film is never shy of laughter whether it is the violence inherent in the matches, the denim cut off wearing coach or the restaurant manager who is a year younger than Bliss. The humour is well observed without being overdone, making it all the funnier.

The film carefully balances the family dynamics with the social world of the sport and the friendships affected by the new. With the likes of Marcia Gay Harden and Daniel Stern as the parents of Bliss (Ellen Page), the family immediately feels real, as if the actors were married for years before the cameras ever rolled. Similarly Kirsten Wiig, Zoe Bell and Barrymore herself perfectly capture the camaraderie of the roller girls, and their joie de vivre.

But truthfully the star here is Page. A year ago known as either Juno or “The Girl from Hard Candy” this year, along with Inception she became an adult actress rather than a child actress. Her character in Whip It is a far less confident or witty personality, and is even at times laughable. It is to the eternal credit of Page that she transforms her character into one you ultimately cheer for. It will be interesting to see whether she transforms over time into another Jodie Foster, going from strength to strength as she reaches maturity. If Juno was when the world noticed her, Whip It should be the film that makes everyone take her seriously and want to see her more.

Also, it is that rare that both genders can enjoy! Perfect date movie. Trust me.