Whip It Review

Whip it can draw a lot of comparisons to this years film Adventureland. Both take place in Small-Town society life, both have a similar 80's style feel (though Adventureland IS set in 1987), both are coming of age stories, and both have the witty indie teenage feel needed in a comedy today (Juno, Superbad). And while I don't place Whip It above Adventureland (look for my podcast on the comparisons later this week), but I do think that it's entertaining and polished enough to garner a viewing.

Whip It stars Ellen Page, an actress who seemingly disappeared after Juno. She's back, still a feisty teenager with angst. I can respect Page and first time director Drew Barrymore, for not making character Bliss Cavendar a replica of Juno MacGuff. Bliss is more reserved, quieter, and less about pithy dialogue and more about pithy outbursts. While I'd have been more comfortable watching another Juno-like character for an hour and a half, the time we spend with Bliss proves to be entertaining.

The supporting cast backing page is well put together. Page's "teammates" are full of talent including Barrymore herself, SNL star Kristen Wiig, Zoe Bell, Eve, and the third Wilson brother (to that of Owen and Luke) Andrew Wilson, who gets MVP of the film and steals all of his scenes. It's not the team that is an issue in the cast, although they begin to get dull as the movie progresses, it's Bliss's boyfriend Oliver, played by musician Landon Pigg. Pigg is one dimensional, and while we root for their relationship, he doesn't ever give us a reason to root for him. A great bit role by Jimmy Fallon and a strong performance by Marcia Gay Harden finish it off.

The soundtrack is amazing, including everything from Radiohead, to Kaiser Chiefs, to Kings of Leon. The comedy works but isn't overbearing, and the coming-of-age portion of it still pulls at my heartstrings. There are two major flaws the movie tries and fails to overcome. It's not original. Not in the story, but in the basic design. We've seen this a hundred times before, and it's not that it doesn't work, but it's that it is predictable. The second is the camera work. Nothing bold or ambitious, but the scenes involving the rollerskating never pan out (pardon any pun). They are shaky and hard to follow about 70 percent of the time and it becomes frustrating to watch.

But other than those two points, the movie is a success. It's entertaining, well written, fairly well acted, and is able to makes us believe 2009 Texas is living in the 80's. Amazing. Grade - B+