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Barrymore's Irresistible 'Whip It': 'Kansas City Bomber' Crossed with 'Gidget'
It's just "Footloose" goes to the roller derby.
It's that happiest of surprises: a multiplex movie that genuinely respects its young audience.
For the most part, the 34-year-old Barrymore, with much of her life spent in front of the camera and more than a few impressive producing credits already in the bank, proves steady on her feet, able to handle curves and straightaways with equal grace.
Love may be too strong a word, for me. But I'm deeply in like with Whip It.
Boisterous, cloying, simultaneously raunchy and innocent, hip and klutzy.
Led by Ellen Page, the movie finds the Juno star playing a slightly less cocksure version of the Diablo Cody creation.
Juliette Lewis and her crazy eyes pretty much make any movie better.
[Whip It] treats its mostly female cast of characters with respect, and this is (sadly) a rare treat in cinema. Hannah Montana may be this generation's Spice Girl, but Bliss Cavender is the one really waving the 'girl power' flag.
It doesn't reach for an epic scale but is comfortable in its humility, and that makes it all the more stellar...
Barrymore is just as determined to land some insightful and unexpected dramatic punches as she is with the inherent physical comedy for which the sport is renowned.
What impresses is the girl power spirit often prevalent in Barrymore's work, but also a its sense of optimism and warm heart.
A surprisingly energetic, provoking and entertaining coming of age story.
Slight narrative arc notwithstanding, there's a lot of warmth here.
Whip It follows the classic follows the classic tropes of any indie coming-of-age film, big game showdown et al, but does it all so well you'll be instantly charmed.
Unlike most Hollywood teen product, here fulfilment comes not from what others think of you but from what you think of yourself. In short, it's Girl Power reinvented.
Like the roller derby girls splayed out on the rink, Barrymore's film is frequently all over place but it manages to stay on its feet at the end. Just.
Part underdog sports flick, part coming-of-ager, Whip It! trades on familiar formulaics, yet Shauna Cross' smart script (based on her novel) keeps things fresh and funny.
The picture's heart is very much in the right place, with the characters all affectionately drawn, but boy does it drag, while efforts at raucous humour (drunkenness, a food fight) fall flat.
Drew Barrymore makes her directing debut with a join-the-dots sports outing that's so brightly played - and so essentially sweet-natured - that its manifest cliches come up smelling of fresh paint.
With Page easily handling what little dramatic weight there is, the support players are free to focus on being funny, and they give it their all.
Although there's nothing original about it, and although it's handled competently rather than with breathtaking élan, it's almost impossible to dislike...
Sure, Whip It is clichéd, slight and formulaic, but it still has enough charm and wit to keep us entertained. And it's packed with girl power.
As a sports movie and as a mixed-up teen flick, it keeps taking unexpected turns, and unlike so many in the former genre, remembers there's more to sport dramas than just winning.
Deftly moderating her patented eye-rolling poseur shtick, Page delivers her most charismatic and least divisive performance to date as Bliss Cavendar, aka Babe Ruthless.
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