Whip Me Girls. Whip Me Real Good!

I tend to think the quality of a movie will reveal itself to the audience within the first five minutes. If you're not digging it within that time, you've pretty much got the standard of the film sussed out. With that in mind, I wasn't really getting into Drew Barrymore's directing debut 'Whip It' from the outset. It seemed to be telling an overly familiar story (rebellious teen/coming of age yarn)in a way that was desperate to be a bit 'indie' (ie, the need to be quirky over genuinely funny).

But lead character Bliss, and her team of Roller Derby nutters, her friends and her family won me over. Big time.
It smoothly combines the whole coming-of-age thing (the heartbreak of first love, rebelling against the parents, finding ones own identity) with the cliched sports movie (underdog team on a losing streak, aim to win the championship). Fortunately, the emphasis is on the quirky character drama here, meaning the cliches are minimised. The main story line goes to Ellen Page's Bliss, as the young girl struggling to carve her own future, from underneath the shadow of her domineering Mom. Unusually for this kind of film, all the characters undertake a journey; her parents, her best friend, her rival and even her loopy team mates. It makes for very engaging viewing.

Helping to bring the sparky script to life is a brilliant cast. Ellen Page and Marcia Gay Harden, who plays Bliss' Mom, are two of the most talented, instinctive actors working today..you never quite know in which direction they'll take their characters. In support is a likably aggressive Juliette Lewis as rival 'Iron Maven', the angry and always late Drew Barrymore as 'Smashley Simpson'...along with Daniel Stern, Jimmy Fallon, R&B star Eve, Kristen Wig (a big future in comedy, this one methinks, Andrew Wilson and Zoe (Death Proof) Bell as 'Bloody Holly'.

A very rewarding experience. I wanted to love this movie. I started of really disappointed. And I ended up really, really loving this movie. It's got an uplifting theme about families learning to embrace change, whether that's your own blood or team-mates or your family of friends. And it does it in a way with off-beat character humour, good tunes...and a cast you can't help but love...even the antagonistic ones.