Reviewed by Kate Rodger
Actress Drew Barrymore heads behind the camera for her first directorial outing, delivering a chick-flick at pace and with plenty of box office appeal.
Her first clever move was to cast Oscar-nominee and Juno heroine Ellen Page in the lead role of Bliss Cavendar, a Texan misfit who finds her mojo with a team of perennially-second best roller-derby skatergirls. She morphs into her alter-ego Babe Ruthless, and finds herself on a bruising ride both on her skates and off.
Barrymore couldn’t resist a support role as team member Smashley Simpson, and Kkiwi stuntwoman turned actress Zoe Bell also gets her skates on.
While the story itself is a trifle clichéd and not particularly inventive, the roller derby backdrop is fresh and the performances good, lifting Whip It well above above the mundane.
A fun 3 stars.
Whip It
:: Director: Drew Barrymore
:: Starring: Ellen Page, Drew Barrymore, Alia Shawkat, Sarah Habel
:: Running Time: 111 mins
:: Rating: M
:: Release Date: Out now
::
Trailer: Click
here
