The School Newspaper of Winston Churchill High School.

The Observer

The School Newspaper of Winston Churchill High School.

The Observer

The School Newspaper of Winston Churchill High School.

The Observer

Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut falls short

Any film entitled Whip It should automatically tip off movie-goers that some kind of fast-paced excitement is involved.

In the case of Drew Barrymore’s (Lucky You) new film, the title says it all. The film focuses on wild, tattooed women wearing short skirts and fishnet stockings all while roller racing.

Barrymore, who both directs and stars, plays the role of one of the roller derby women and though her movie scratches the surface, she does not dig deep enough into the lives of the fascinating women portrayed in the roller rink action scenes.

Instead, the film dwells on a puppy dog romance between two teenagers, a lonely girl named Bliss, (Ellen Page, Juno) and Oliver (Landon Pigg, One Tree Hill), a part-time rock and roll band singer.

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Apart from some uplifting moments that include an artistic underwater romance in an indoor pool afterhours, Oliver fails to add much substance to the plot.  He only piles onto the numerous setbacks Bliss encounters.

Since Texas is the land of beauty queens and star athletes, the setting of this film seems to offer a rowdy counter-culture alternative to this stereotype.  Although Bliss is initially trapped in the beauty pageant dreams of her mother’s past, she quickly finds her own way out.

The casting for this film is well done. Every one of the roller derby women seems to fit the part perfectly. Also, Bliss has a nemesis named Maven (Juliette Lewis, Catch and Release), who is so well portrayed that the audience is kept guessing about her real motives. The long-haired roller coach (Andrew Wilson, Fever Pitch) is the perfect underpaid but imaginative coach for a bunch of crazy roller rink girls, and the roller rink announcer adds some humor with his theatrics and one-liners.

Despite being awkward at times by leaving some loose ends, this movie still has a certain charm.  Viewers sympathize with Bliss’s aging beauty queen mother as she realizes that Bliss has chosen to compete in the championship roller derby instead of the local beauty pageant. Bliss’s conflicted emotions and sincere attempt to be a dutiful daughter also ring true.

It is enjoyable to watch these hard-charging live-for-the-moment women portrayed in Whip It, but the viewer never gets to really know who they are.  However, these action roller skating scenes will appeal to young teenagers so much, causing the film’s omissions to not really matter.

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Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut falls short