Whip It, Whip it (not so) Good

So I finally got to watch the film Whip It. This was one of those films that I wanted to see immediately after seeing a preview for it. It was quite apropos because I had just re-discovered my love for roller skating, and who doesn’t love Ellen Page? Yet for some reason, I never made it out to see it in the theater. So one evening I had a hankering for something funny and lighthearted. Flipping through the channels I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that Whip It was available on pay-per-view. I don’t normally order movies on PPV, but this seemed like a wise investment.

Four dollars and ninety nine cents later, I was pumped to finally see this film, directed by Drew Barrymore and starring several well known actors such as Ellen Page, Kristen Wig, Juliette Lewis, Eve, Jimmy Fallen to name a few. Ellen Page stars as Bliss, a 17 year old misfit from a small town outside of Austin, Texas, who stumbles upon Roller Derby, which is quite a departure from her history of competing in pageants. She joins and suddenly within weeks her life changes. Bliss who has chosen the derby name “Babe Ruthless” is a timid character, and yet she fits in almost instantly with the tough derby chicks including Maggie Mayhem, Bloody Holly, and Eva Destruction, and in no time becomes the star of the team. Her presence on the team energizes them and the once apathetic Hurl Scouts become fired up and determined to win. All the while she falls for Oliver, your typical indie band rocker, with whom she has a whirlwind romance. The rest of the film deals with her mending her relationship with her bestie Pash, and her mother, whom she has been lying to for weeks.

When the film was over I was wishing I had my $4.99 back. It was an overall disappointment. The plot was so predictable you knew exactly what was going to occur before it happened. It was also fairly unrealistic. Do you know any misfits who double as beauty pageant contestants at age 17? I sure don’t. How do you go from that to roller derby? And how does one become such a skilled roller skater in just weeks? I know it’s just a movie, but still all this bothered me. The love story between Bliss and Oliver was so cheesy you needed crackers just to get through it. Had I not gone into this with such high expectations, I may have enjoyed it a bit more, as it did at least provide a few laughs. In short, I would only recommend this film if you are looking to enjoy a couple hours of mindless entertainment.