I’m not a big fan of movies about teenage angst, at least not for some decades, but the film “Whip It” offers an interesting perspective on the Hollywood-favorite type of coming-of-age tale. Of course, the book “Derby Girl” by Shauna Cross is better at this, but “Whip It” really works and Drew Barrymore’s first effort in the director’s chair is simply a home run to use another sport’s metaphor. I can’t exactly pin down why I enjoy “Whip It” so much, but being creatively framed by a revival of the sport of roller derby puts this one head-and-shoulders above most. Plus, the acting is prime stuff, too. You can do a whole lot worse delving into so-called “youth oriented” films and “Whip It” is a great place to pick up again if you haven’t seen one in some time.
‘Whip It’
(2009; 111 minutes; rated PG-13; directed by Drew Barrymore and starring Ellen Page, Kristen Wiig and Drew Barrymore)
YOU NEED TO ‘WHIP IT’ GOOD
(NOTE: I first updated and expanded this review on Aug. 27, 2014, and then revisited it with a little more expansion and updating of links on Jan. 13, 2016. I again expanded the review on Feb. 18, 2018. I again expanded the review on Nov. 28, 2020.)
I wasn’t really looking to like “Whip It” so much, but the trailers showed that it had roller derby and that was enough for me to check it out on DVD. Having watched the “real” roller derby on the high-numbered channel way back in the day before cable, I was expecting one thing, but found another.
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I was considering that it would be crap, but, thankfully, what I found was an excellent coming-of-age tale. Interestingly, it is Drew Barrymore’s first effort in directing a feature film and her success with this one is helped immeasurably by the work of its outstanding cast.
Barrymore’s verve in bringing this novel to the screen is infectious and even older audiences can move past the teenaged angst that’s the heart of “Whip It.” She benefits from an eclectic group that includes Oscar winner (not for this one) Marcia Gay Harden, but not much drops off with Ellen Page and Kristen Wiig. I would hope that Barrymore finds another work that brings her back behind the camera as she had only directed a documentary before “Whip It” and since has only done a short by the writing of the expansions of this review.
Now, on to the film.
Page, who you will remember from “Juno” and an Oscar nomination for best actress, plays “Bliss Cavender.” She’s looking for a way out of small-town life in Texas as well as finding and establishing herself in her own way. Her mother, a postal worker who can be very focused and intense, wants Page to win a beauty pageant; meanwhile, Page discovers and wants to do the roller derby thing and see her own life blossom. It all collides, scatters and then gathers again.
For those unfamiliar with roller derby, it is a sport of skating around a track and getting points for a designated player (the “jammer”) passing the other team’s blocking players and a “whip” is a technique where one person gets snapped forward with an arm pull by another player.
For Page’s character, it’s a crossroads time in life.
“I’m Bliss, but I can change that,” Page tells roller derby leader “Maggie Mayhem” about getting a cool derby name as well as the obvious life reference. At the derby, she becomes “Babe Ruthless.”
At first while on the track Page is retiring and looks hopeless (cue the life parallel here), but then shows she has what it takes with speed and finally toughness (cue life parallel here, too).
Here’s a look at the truly magnificent cast …
Page, who has done TV fare such as “Trailer Park Boys” in addition to films including “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” stumbles onto roller derby in her ongoing quest to make life interesting. It has youthful exuberance, outlandish names (“Bloody Holly,” the “Manson sisters” and “Smashley Simpson” just to name a few) and introduces her to a boy who plays in a band. All in all, everything that Page’s mother doesn’t want for her daughter. Page is pitch-perfect in the role and there simply isn’t another actor of her generation who could have carried this film. She was recently in “Flatliners” and a series of “Flatliners” video shorts.- An Oscar nominee (not for this one) and “Saturday Night Live” veteran, Kristen Wiig, who as “Maggie Mayhem” is the leader of the “Hurl Scouts” team, gives a dynamite supporting performance in becoming Page’s mentor. Wiig is worldly-wise and actually agrees with Page’s mother on some things. She conveys her character to perfection – not too old to be a parent (although she is in the film), but not too young to compound foolish mistakes. She was also outstanding in “Bridesmaids” and was nominated as co-writer of the film. Wiig was in “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” and I liked her work in “The Martian” (click here for my review) and I bet she regrets the crapfest remake of “Ghostbusters.”
- Another superior supporting turn is from Alia Shawkat, who plays Page’s best friend “Pash.” Shawkat, who has been in “Three Kings” and “Ruby Sparks,” brings a bit of leavening as well as support for Page. Her friendship is tested but she is a real friend. Shawkat doesn’t get the chance to elevate her character that others have, but she makes the most of the role. She’s been on the TV series “Arrested Development” and “Search Party.”
- A four-time Primetime Emmy winner, “The Tonight Show’s” Jimmy Fallon makes a big mark with his small role as “ ‘Hot Tub’ Johnny Rocket,” the oversexed announcer at the roller derby matches. It’s a much better effort than he did in dreck such as “Taxi” or the smarmy love story “Fever Pitch” with Barrymore (that film just isn’t up to the Farrelly brothers’ usual standard). Here, he drops trying too hard like he did in “Taxi” and the audience benefits from his work that gives us a true character. Fallon should have gotten a bigger slice of the on-screen pie. He won his Emmys for his work on “Tonight,” his own late-late show and for “Saturday Night Live” (along with seven other nominations for the same shows).
- Barrymore gets in front of the camera, too, as the hyper-aggressive “Smashley Simpson.” You can easily see that Barrymore’s got more on her mind than acting here, but she does an energetic and loose turn. Barrymore has also been in “Lucky You,” “50 First Dates” and “Donnie Darko.”
Page’s nemesis on the track is “Iron Maven” and is played to perfection by Juliette Lewis. She’s tough, she’s No. 1 and she’s being challenged by Page. Lewis pulls off a tough role as she gets away from bloody messes such as “From Dusk Till Dawn” (click here for my review) and “Natural Born Killers.” I’m not a big fan of Lewis, but she gets four-stars from me for this one.- “Diner” alumnus Daniel Stern is subdued yet very effective as Page’s football-loving father “Earl Cavender,” who remains her biggest supporter throughout and provides nice balance to Harden as number two in that relationship. Stern is most remembered for his comedic turn as a bad guy vying against Macaulay Culkin in the first two “Home Alone” films (click here for my look at them). His first role in cinema was “Cyril” in another outstanding coming-of-age film, “Breaking Away” (click here for my review).
- However, when everything is played out, the acting foundation of the film is by Oscar winner and nominee (not for this one) Harden as “Brooke Cavender,” Bliss’ mom. Harden, a veteran of films and TV, gives her all and it was no small achievement to swing between super-serious pageant contest mom to overbearing mother to finally getting real with Page. Again, just as Page is the only actor of her generation who could have done “Bliss,” I’d say Harden is the only actor of her generation who could have as effectively done “Brooke.” At times, the tension between Harden and Page crackles even when Harden just glares at her. Harden won her Oscar for “Pollock” and was nominated for “Mystic River.” Simply put, this effort should have earned her another nomination and I’m sure she’ll snag more as time passes. She has been in the “Fifty Shades of Grey” franchise and works continuously including TV series episodes and TV movies. She was also in the reboot “Bad News Bears” (click here for my review).
So, there you have it. You won’t find many better efforts by an entire cast than for this one. Although it could easily be interesting, I don’t know if I want to see Barrymore try a sequel. Lightning almost never strikes twice even for great directors, but she has a great film on which to build – maybe next time it’s Page who’s having trouble with her daughter.
On the music side, “Whip It” offers a wonderfully eclectic soundtrack – from .38 Special’s “Caught Up in You” to the Ramones to a remix of the Chordettes’ “Lolipop” to Dolly Parton’s “Jolene.” Ya gotta love it! Still, it’s too bad that Devo’s “Whip It” wasn’t on the soundtrack, but, just as “An American Werewolf in London” (click here for my review) didn’t have Warren Zevon’s iconic “Werewolves of London,” maybe Barrymore thought it would be trite to “whip it, whip it good!”
Shauna Cross penned the book “Derby Girl” (released 2007) about her experiences in the Texas roller derby (she was actually “Maggie Mayhem”) and the title was changed when the book went to film (and changed with subsequent reprints and for e-readers). The book is called “Whip It” in the credits and Cross also wrote the screenplay.
Sadly, “Whip It” could only reach being the 131st ranked film at the U.S. box office in 2009 with $13 million, according to Box Office Mojo. Damn. It deserved better. Worldwide it hit only $16 million and barely topped it $15 million budget, according to Wiki. The No. 1 film of the year was “Avatar” with $749.7 million. Here are the other two films from 2009 that I’ve reviewed:
- “The Hangover” (outstanding comedy) – click here for my review
- “I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell” (awful flick) – click here for my review
- “Zombieland” (best-ever zombie flick) – click here for my review
Additional cast and film notes (from IMDb.com):
Thankfully, Page dropped out of a film “Drag Me to Hell” in order to make “Whip It.”- Eulala Scheel plays youngest daughter “Shania” … and she’s the real-life daughter of Harden.
- Hurl Scouts” coach Razor is played by Andrew Wilson, who was with Barrymore in “Charlie’s Angels” and its sequel as well as “Fever Pitch.” He’s also been in “Zoolander,” “The Royal Tenenbaums” and “Hall Pass.”
- Not from IMDb.com: watch the credits, they’re pretty good.
- Directly from IMDb.com: “The Manson Sisters were played by Rachel Piplica and Kristen Adolfi – better known as Iron Maiven and Krissy Krash of the Los Angeles Derby Dolls. The pair skated for the Hurl Scouts in the film and in real life skate for the Tough Cookies, the team on which the Scouts were based.”
- Finally and directly (and an important fact left out of the film) from IMDb.com: “An important rule of derby depicted but not explained in the film: the first jammer to exit the pack cleanly is declared the LEAD JAMMER and can call off the jam at any time by putting her hands to her hips, returning everyone to their starting points and beginning a new jam. Jammers are seen throughout the film “calling off the jam” with an energetic hip touching gesture.”
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