Movie review: “Whip It”

Drew Barrymore has forged a persona as an actress and producer with movies that exude a playful sense of girl power, so it only makes sense that "Whip It," her first feature as a director, would share that same sort of vibe.

What is surprising, though, is Barrymore's ability to find just the right tone all the time, which would be a difficult feat for any first-time filmmaker to achieve -- even one who's spent her life on movie sets.

"Whip It" is funny without trying too hard to be wacky, sweet without being overly sentimental. It has an appealing low-budget,'70s-style kitsch. And after a recent string of female-centric films, including "All About Steve" and "The Ugly Truth" that wallow in the worst kinds of stereotypes, it is a relief to see women depicted as strong, smart, cool individuals.

It's also a joy to see Ellen Page play a character other than the impossibly clever smart alecks she's become known for in movies such as "Juno" and "Hard Candy." Here, Page stars as Bliss Cavendar, a misfit growing up in the nowhere town of Bodeen, Texas, and working as a waitress at the local barbecue joint.

Bliss is reluctantly following in the footsteps of her beauty-queen mother (Marcia Gay Harden), but on a visit to the big city of Austin, she sees a flier for the local roller derby league and is intrigued. She secretly tries out for the league, makes it and then becomes the league's petite, speedy star.

She joins the Hurl Scouts, whose shtick is that they dress up in Girl Scout uniforms with fishnets and heavy eyeliner to beat up on the competition. With tongue-in-cheek names such as Maggie Mayhem (Kristen Wiig), Bloody Holly (stuntwoman Zoe Bell) and Smashley Simpson (Barrymore herself), they're perennial cellar-dwellers, but they don't care. They're too busy having fun. (Their coach, however, takes the sport way too seriously; he's played hilariously by Andrew Wilson, older brother of Owen and Luke, in stringy blond hair and cutoff denim shorts.)

What's endearing about these characters -- inspired by the memoir by Shauna Cross, a Los Angeles Derby Dolls member who also wrote the script -- is that these women are tough on the outside but decent to the core. They'll shove and elbow and knock each other to the ground, but all go out for beers afterward and compare bruises.

Bliss finds a home among them and finds out what she's made of in the process, blossoming from awkward young woman to confident athlete.