by Jason Daniel Baker

Created on: August 04, 2010   Last Updated: August 25, 2010

Whip It (2009) Starring Ellen Page, Alia Shawkat, Juliette Lewis, Marcia Gay Harden, Daniel Stern, Kristen Wiig, Zoe Bell, Drew Barrymore, Jimmy Fallon, Ari Graynor, Andrew Wilson, Landon Pigg, Shannon Eagen, Barbara Coven, Rachel Piplica, Alexis O'Neill, Eli Bleiler, Sydney Bennett, Har Mar Superstar .

Directed by Drew Barrymore.

Running Time: 111 minutes.

Rating: PG-13 (Coarse Language, Violence)

"Congratulations! You still suck!"

Teen beauty pageant contestant Bliss Cavendar (Page) is unfulfilled in her life as a small town misfit in a hamlet near Austin, Texas. She likes heavy metal instead of country, dyes her hair blue instead of blond and mysteriously speaks with an odd Canadian accent all of which keep her from fitting in with a rural area dominated by traditional values.

Her postal worker mother (Harden) wants her to be a beauty queen, head cheerleader and the rest of that stereotypical American dream stuff that passes for success in the town. Bliss is content to try to be those things if only to keep her mother happy and because she doesn't really see any other avenue for herself until in Austin (the most liberal city in Texas), on a shopping trip, a chance encounter with roller derby skaters captures her imagination.

She lies to her parents and attends a derby bout immediately becoming smitten seeing a reflection of herself in the competitors. As with most derby leagues in North America there is a training program for new skaters. If you are tough enough or just plain crazy enough and pony up some $300 to $400 for pads, helmet and skates as well as investing the time and energy, you too could compete in roller derby.

Suffice to say that to even get on the track takes an uncommon dedication and character. To dominate, as Bliss does, requires agility, speed, strength, foresight and savvy. Don't worry about size. If you know how to plant or angle your weight properly you can knock a heavier opponent clear off of the track. In fact with a lower centre of gravity you can cause serious injury and if you are a small enough jammer (Bliss's position) you can slip through bigger skaters could not hope to pass through.

Bliss, re-dubbed "Babe Ruthless" (her nom de guerre for derby) turns out to be a natural, and at age 17 lucky to find herself and her calling unlike other people who die unfulfilled. But her arch-rival Iron Maven (Lewis) resents the competition and a heated rivalry ensues resulting in heated exchanges both on and off the track..

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