Whip It Film Review ...Four out of Five Skates!

HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA -- On September 26, I was lucky enough to see a sneak peek of the much-anticipated Whip It. Let me tell you, it was awesome - I'm used to seeing Hollywood destroy the things I love, but this just wasn't the case. For the sake of all of you, I’ll skip the plot summary (which can be found just about anywhere) and just get down to opinions.

How believable are the characters? Very.

Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page) spoke to a lot of girls in the league - starting hesitantly and then falling in love with derby. Her secrecy about joining the Hurl Scouts leads to her mother’s obvious extreme objections, and let’s face it, we all know that person who just doesn’t want to get derby. Her mother asks who would employ these women, want to marry them, what do people think of them… when we meet the Hurl Scouts, we hear about their normal jobs and even get to see Smashley Simpson’s (Drew Barrymore) fiance. Smashley is the league’s wild child, but not to a point where you can’t believe it. Maggie Mayhem (Kirsten Wiig) was a mom, and a level-headed source of advice for Bliss.

When it comes to the representation of derby, it’s Hollywood accurate. They did a good job of a thirty second explanation of the rules. While we did see Smashley doing the “turn around and punch her in the face block” plenty in the trailer, in the movie there was a feel for how that was not legal in the game… though one play they used did involve clotheslining the other team. Overall, it wasn’t ridiculously inaccurate and definitely showed derby as a SPORT rather than a spectacle.

The story is cute, too. Bliss discovers roller derby, goes to try-outs on a whim, and ends up making the team and an enemy of the jammer of the #1 TXRD team, the Holy Rollers (the Holy Rollers are the only name shared with the TXRD teams, though I don’t know if other leagues use the other team names. Most of the derby names are borrowed from actual derby players, too). There of course is conflict with family, her best friend (cute and slightly boy-crazed Pash), and a childhood-friend-turned-enemy. It wouldn’t be a Hollywood movie without a love story, though it’s not as central as the conflict of being on the derby team and getting the Hurl Scouts to the top.

Overall, I think it's a movie any rollergirl could easily relate to. We all had our own experience coming in to derby, but this movie managed to touch part of each of our stories. I’ve heard plenty of girls whose families don’t approve of them skating - ranging from reasons of it’s dangerous to the idea they have of the sorts of girls who do derby. Many teams find some spark that drives them to improve, much like the Hurl Scouts did. Pick any aspect of derby in the movie (okay, other than the clotheslining - unless you like getting ejected) and you can probably think of an example from your own derby experience. Even apart from derby, what girl hasn't fought with her mother, disappointed her best friend, had her heart broken, and done something her family didn't understand?

It’s essentially a story everyone can relate to, pulled off well. It’s a great job for Drew Barrymore’s first work as director, too. It may not be 100% derby-accurate, but that’s easy to overlook because it’s a good movie. Four out of five skates.

Erica SLAPton
WFTDA Correspondent
Dixie Derby Girls