DVD OF THE WEEK: Whip It

Whip It
Directed by Drew Barrymore
2009, 111 minutes, USA

It should be prefaced that this week has oodles of recommendable discs—including The House of the Devil (podcast), A Serious Man (interview), Bronson (review), and Eleven Minutes (podcast)—so here's a plea to those who might've sadly ignored Drew Barrymore's directorial debut last week simply because, well, it's Drew Barrymore's directorial debut. The former Charlie's Angel hasn't exactly developed a distinct style and vision to canonize her as a great American auteur or anything, but in her capable hands, a potentially hoary coming-of-ager about a small-town Texas high schooler who finds empowerment through an all-girl roller derby league proves to be an infectious, emotionally credible dramedy with a decidedly postfeminist ideology. More movies deserve to focus on the kinds of progressively written female characters Whip It offers in teams, but almost as important, it's a kick-ass entertainment, too.

Adapted by Shauna Cross from her semi-autobiographical novel "Derby Girl," the film tracks young Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page, shaking off her snark and precociousness) as she longs to escape a dead-end waitress job and the beauty-pageant career inflicted upon her by an obsessive mother (Marcia Gay Harden. After Bliss and best friend Pash (Alia Shawkat) sneak off to a hipster slice of Austin to discover the loyal sisterhoods and fierce competitions of derby (and dreamy indie rocker Landon Pigg, but that's a later subplot), the girl power is contagious enough for Bliss to dig out her childhood Barbie skates and start practicing to become one of the "Hurl Scouts." If the familial conflict that comes next seems predictable, what redeems a familiar youth-in-revolt arc is that nobody gets a one-dimensional vilification. Mother and daughter clearly love each other, as does Bliss' football-loving goof of a dad (Daniel Stern), but a warm-hearted tone doesn't make Mom's overbearing nature any less of an obstacle between a teenage dreamer and her passions.

You'd be to correct to guess that the truly choice material comes from the sport itself. The thrills are visceral as we watch Bliss evolve into a speed-skating superstar with the nom de plume "Babe Ruthless." Unlike the ADHD headaches of cross-cutting that ruin so many action flicks today, frequent Wes Anderson cinematographer Robert Yeoman's lensing of the derby auditions and matches has a straightforward visual clarity without losing its kick. Then the zipping, whipping and taking hits becomes more engaging once we're introduced to Bliss' de facto family of tough chicks, from ditzy "Smashley Simpson" (Barrymore) and New Zealand badass "Bloody Holly" (Zoe Bell) to veterans like alt-mom "Maggie Mayhem" (Kristen Wiig) and feral arch-rival "Iron Maven" (Juliette Lewis)—who, again, is not a singularly malevolent figure, even if she makes sinister faces outside the arena.

It's a spot-on ensemble (let's also hear it for Andrew Wilson and Jimmy Fallon) across the board, and Barrymore gives almost everyone a chance to carry a scene, sweetly subverting the very underdog clichés she adopts (the big game, the love interest, the best friend falling-out). Actors-turned-directors are regularly praised for filching fabulous performances through personal experience, but Barrymore's greater strength (with compliments to Magnolia editor Dylan Tichenor) is in capturing the spontaneous minutiae of her cast's work. All the ad hoc gags, single-take reactions and left-in actor impulses would feel just as at home in a loosey-goosey comedy like Dazed and Confused or Rock 'N' Roll High School—you know, the kinds of films whose flaws only charm you into watching them again.

Posted by ahillis at February 3, 2010 6:54 PM