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You are so lucky today! In fact, I wish I were you. Because if you haven't yet seen Drew Barrymore's directorial debut Whip It, which opens in wide release October 2nd, you have a rollicking ride around a rink in your future. Tear up your fishnets, slip on your Docs, and head to the theater, because here comes the jammer!
That's roller derby lingo, Ace. Whip It is an adaptation of Shanna Cross' novel about the resurgence of the wicked chick sport roller derby, where teams of fearless women skate in full-contact bouts that are a bit of a mash-up of retro theater, mosh pit, girl power rally and even pro wrestling, with each player choosing a campy name to define their derby persona. Sort of like bloggers do. Derby rules!
So does Whip It. It's funny, sports terrific character development and dialogue, and like a good Girl Scout, leaves you better than it found you. I saw the midnight show last night and felt inspired to kick butt, and though I merely did push ups when I came home, the feeling sticks with me. Rawr.
It's clear that growing up in show business has given Drew Barrymore honed instincts for directing. Her cast is undeniable as well. Ellen Page fronts, with Kristin Wiig, Marcia Gay Harden and Juliette Lewis shining in support. Melissa Silverstein at Women and Hollywood wrote:
Whip It is exactly the perfect movie for our time. It doesn’t hit you over the head with the feminism but it is there in every breath and every beat. Ellen Page is adorable as Bliss Cavendar, a Texas girl who just doesn’t fit in with all the pageant obsessed folks in her town which includes her mom, played by Marcia Gay Harden. ...But Bliss wants more for her life than pageants and working in a dead end job. When she discovers roller derby she finds her tribe. These women get her. They get each other. They kick the shit out of each other on the track and have a ton of fun at it.
It is so rare to have a premise that is focused on women--and not only on their love lives. Although Ellen Page's character does have a cute little boyfriend, that storyline is only one part of her character's journey. As MaryAnn Johanson wrote at Flick Filosphere:
And even more to cheer: this is a movie not just about a young woman -- so hard to come by in tolerable form these days -- but one about lots of women. Lots of different women. The skaters Bliss encounters in the derby world are a wild bunch of tough, cool, strong, vulnerable women, all doing their stuff together or in opposition but with a rancor that is so good-natured that it cannot help but rub off on you. (The good-naturedness, that is, not the rancor. It’s hard to imagine anyone hating this movie.)
The spirit rubbed off on blogger Stacy Jill Jacobs, who tweeted and posted right after seeing the film yesterday. She wrote, 'It made me want to grab my roller skates, pull on the tights and start training to try out for Chicago’s team! I almost tried out for LA’s team a while back but I chickened out."
Time Out Chicago interviewed Chicago's derby girls about the film. It's worth a read to see what real derby players say is authentic and what is not. A skater called Ruthenasia said, “They got right the relationships that you build and how it translates back to your real life, if you wanna call it your real life. It becomes your real life, but there are skills and lessons you learn in derby that translate right back to everything else.”
I don't want to spoil the fun for you with any more details, but I do want you to watch for Zoe Bell, who plays Bloody Holly. I'm a super Zoe Bell fangirl, and I can't help but want you to join me in celebrating her genius. She's a hardcore stuntwoman and stunt coordinator who sometimes acts in films as well. She WAS Xena, and then doubled for Uma Thurman in the Kill Bill films. As if those roles aren't street cred enough, she has distinguished herself as the Bad Babe of all Bad Babes with her Deathproof Ship's Mast stunt. Watch her early years in the fantastic
