Drew Barrymore's directorial debut inconsistent, lacks character development
By Megan Osborne
The new Ellen Page movie "Whip It" has a star leading lady and Drew Barrymore as director. It's got the same quirky offbeat vibe as the famously poignant and inspired "Juno." Well, it did in the trailer, at least: A quiet, small-town misfit from the middle of Texas finds her feet in a rowdy, tattooed roller derby team. To me, this sounded like a comedy. Surprisingly, I'd have to say I get more laughs out of a thirty-minute episode of "Entourage" than this entire movie.
Perhaps it was the main character, Bliss, played by the talented Page. This meek-mannered girl is hopeless, desperately plain and downright dreary until she discovers eye make-up. Or, was that roller derby? Either way, her life suddenly gets dramatically exciting as she lies to her parents to sneak away to practice skating and ... bippity boppity boo! The cool guy in a band she's crushing on starts to notice her automatically. Could life get any better?
The thing is, Bliss is so pathetic it's hard to find her sad situation funny. She steps out of her box and joins the roller derby, and while it's a refreshing change, it's also a little hard to believe.
The bodacious roller derby friends do not provide much comic relief except for when they're punching people on the track. To her credit, director Barrymore, who plays a skater called Smashley Simpson, delivers some fantastically devastating blows to other skaters.
But this brings more of a gasp than a laugh.
"Whip It" was surprisingly serious. Based on the trailer, many would think this movie was a comedy, like "Juno," a funny, quirky and heartwarming bildungsroman. While it is a coming-of-age story, the movie addresses serious themes like parent-child relationships, especially the curse of a guilt-tripping mother, and the desperation of kids like Bliss to make it out of their small town world of Bodeen, Texas. The tension between Bliss and her more old-fashioned mother dominates the film.
Bliss's mother, Brooke, played by Marsha Gay Harden, gives a remarkably poignant performance as a woman struggling to reconcile her traditional values with the world of her alternative daughter Bliss, a world that seems to stand against everything she believes in. She clearly loves her, yet at the same time she cannot understand Bliss' interests and dreams.
Bliss's father, Earl, played by Daniel Stern, also gives an outstanding performance as a man who is hopelessly controlled by his wife. He is so fearful of her disapproval that he drinks beer and watches football in a van.
Alia Shawkat deserves applause for her portrayal of Bliss's best friend Pash, whom Bliss predictably comes into conflict with once she decides to join the roller derby team. Shawkat takes control of her role, being much more than the typical main character's best friend. Pash legitimately challenges Bliss and brings a face to the pursuit of the dream of getting out of a small town.
Drew Barrymore, as a debuting director, gives the film great color and some stunning action sequences. But it lacks substance in some crucial non-derby scenes. The movie as a whole could have used fewer montages, and the characters were not as developed as they could have been.
The filming of skating scenes was artfully done, adeptly conveying the excitement of the derby games without being too chaotic. Action scenes, which included live music, a stunning underwater romance scene, derby racing and a food fight were visually delightful. But these didn't make up for the gaping holes in the development of Bliss as a character deserving of our sympathy.
Music featured in the movie showed an admirably wide range of styles including the psychedelic MGMT, punk classics The Ramones and the whimsical indie strains of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Bliss's obsession with obscure music is woven into the film appropriately, but provides few chances for the audience to get in on the references - thus leading to more awkward silences than bull's-eyes.
The verdict comes down to the principles of expectations versus reality. Audiences coming to see this movie are looking for the original quirky comedy that made Ellen Page famous, a story that has legitimate drama but still masters the art of the perfect one-liner.
What they'll get is a cheap attempt at comedy, some colorful costumes, and a painfully predictable story about a girl growing up. But hey, the soundtrack might be worth checking out.
