Whip It (2009/Fox Blu-ray)

 

Picture: B+     Sound: B+     Extras: D     Film: B-

 

 

When a Whip It comes along it’s a problem.  Studios have obviously not learned their lesson with Roller Derby films that have flopped time and time again.  For whatever reason audiences seem unable to connect with the subject matter.  Whip It stars a host of wonderful actors including Ellen Page (Juno), Marcia Gay Harden, Kristen Wig (SNL), Drew Barrymore, Juliette Lewis and Daniel Stern (Home Alone); even Jimmy Fallon shows up to laugh at his own jokes.  The film in all honesty is better than I expected and has more to do with the cast than the script.  The story is too cliché as it casts Ellen Page in the “girl looking to make it big” role.  The film was directed by Drew Barrymore herself with the script coming from “Roller Girl” author/Roller Derby athlete Shauna Cross.  The film works to a degree, but Barrymore plays the sport of film directing too safe and something is lost in the mix.  The coming of age story infused with copious amounts of girl power, fun and laughs does little in terms of depth and overall lost out on what could have been a better film.

 

Whereas there may be some criticisms with the films originality, there is no denying its energy, passion or acting caliber.  Ellen Page is Bliss Cavendar, a young girl looking to make her dreams come true as she busts out of the small town that has held her back for all too long.  She gets her chance to make it big when she lands a spot on a Roller Derby team that is rough, tough and anything but ordinary.  She gains the name “Babe Ruthless” and quickly becomes a star of the sport.  Marcia Gay Harden is Bliss’s overbearing mother who only makes the life in suffocating small town all the worse.  Her mother would rather her be a beauty queen, but with her new found happiness in Roller Derby Bliss finds it better to lie and hide her new passion from her mother.  Bliss’ all to absent father (Daniel Stern) chooses to play it calm and quiet; never stirring up much trouble with the ladies in his life.  Bliss tries to balance her double life and soon finds a new adversary in the form of Juliette Lewis on the Roller Derby rink.  The film quickly takes a downward spiral into your typical sport drama; with highs and lows and hopefully a triumphant ending with lots of tears.

 

The film is fun and fast paced, I will give it that, but the predictability is truly distracting.  If Barrymore hadn’t played it so safe, I would have to say that the film would have been the best of its kind in a long while.  Whereas I also enjoy Ellen Page in this role; I don’t see her going beyond the roles that she has already played. Like the film itself, Page is becoming predictable and drab to an extent.  I think she is an actress with potential, but I need to see more range.

 

I think Whip It is worth a look and others may even enjoy it more than I did.  It romanticizes the sport well, bringing plenty of laughs and fast paced story to keep it lively.

 

The technical features of the Blu-ray release are well done.  The picture is presented in a 1080p 2.35 X 1 AVC-1 Encoded image that is nicely done with good colors, solid contrast and inky blacks.  I found the image to be a tad soft at times, but not all the time.  There is a good amount of depth and detail and even in the faster moments there is little motion blur and objects across the board are discernable.  The sound is a solid DTS-HD Master Audio (MA) 5.1 mix that delivers from beginning to end.  The surrounds are fully used throughout as you are immersed in every noise possible.  From crisp dialogue to a booming soundtrack it is all there.  Overall, I was impressed by the film’s technical features.

 

The extras are a tad lackluster and unexciting as it offers less than 20 minutes of bonus features.  On the table are Deleted Scenes (in standard definition); Alternate Opening (1 minute); Fox Movie Channel Presents: Writers Draft - Shauna Cross of ‘Whip It’; Whip It Soundtrack promo and Digital Copy for PC and PC portable devices.  Nothing truly remarkable at all.

 

As previously mentioned I would definitely take a look; especially being Barrymore’s directorial debut.

 

 

-  Michael P. Dougherty II