| Section A - True or False Answer the following True or False questions | ||
| Answer | Question | Explanation to Relevance |
|---|---|---|
| I like Ellen Page. | Not the character Juno or the version of Kitty Pryde who broke up Ice Man and Rogue in X Men 3, but the actress who, though having worked with both Diablo Cody or Brett Ratner and should be blamed for neither's failure as artists or human beings |
|
| I enjoyed the A&E reality series Rollergirls. |
This is basically the fictionalized tale of that program with Page playing a small town Texas alternachick forced to compete against the rich kids iin beauty pageants by her postal carrier mom until she discovers roller derby on a shopping trip to Austin and realizes this is her destiny. Like Rollergirls, Whip It tells the tale of the TXRD League and the bad ass women within. | |
|
I like Kristen Wiig | She, as the Mama Bear who takes our heroine under her stakes/wing is the best non-Ellen Page thing about Whip It. She should be in every indie comedy (though lately it seems like she is) | |
| You really wanted to see this movie, but really couldn't accept the idea that Drew Barrymore was supposed to be the same age as Ellen Page. | This is entirely not true, and the idea that Page is younger than her roller derby compatriots is not only mentioned but a crucial element to the plot. | |
If you answered true to at least two of these questions, you should definitely see it. If not, continue.
| Section B Answer the following with yes or no. | |
| Answer | Question |
|---|---|
| Have you ever bought used clothes at a store that also sells pot paraphanelia? | |
| Would this cause your mother not to pay for these clothes on either a moral stand or because the hipsters behind the counter laughed at her? | |
| Do you like Alia Shawkat and/or ever wonder what she looks like with freckles? With her playing Page's best friend, this means Page has been the lead in movies where she's been coupled with both of the young Bluth cousins from Arrested Development. However, Page and Shawkat have far more sexual chemistry than Cera did with her in Juno, and even though their characters aren't lesbians, their closeness (and the freckles) are still a plot point which leads to the most awesomely satisfying (if morally questionable) hip check in film history. | |
| Do you like to hate Juliette Lewis? She makes a wonderfully hateable bully in the best sports movie tradition. | |
| Do you like it when film locations seem real? Because although Barrymore in her directorial debut makes some questionable editing choices (as witnessed by the outtakes in the closing credits they kept me asking "Why didn't we see that?" and also made me sometimes wish that a more experienced director has been behind the camera to make the scenes around the derby track more exciting, the places feel authentic -- and not just because the warehouse was the same place Rollergirls competed and much of the movie looks like it was sponsored by the Austin Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Board. The houses are clutters in a real way and the house parties and bar are awkwardly spaced like real life. Kudos to the set dresser and designer and whoever else makes such things happen. | |
| Do you like montages set to music? Because Whip It has both an inspirational sports training montage AND a falling in love montage that, though cliched, were really great and are a credit to Barrymore's directing style. | |
If you answered yes to 3 of more of the questions in Section B, you should see Whip It.
Section C - Written Essay Summation
Whip It plays most of the notes you'd expecte a coming of age/sports team comedy to play but they are arranged in an entertaining way, and though most everything turns out the way you expect it might, it gets there in some unique ways. For example, like the real roller derby, this movie isn't so much about gender, romance, love, and sexuality but being post-sexualTM(courtesy of Julie Keck). The love story plot is satisfying in both its execution and conclusion (though , in hindsight, I fear a scene set in a pool while cheekily effective may lead to a bunch of drownings because of its total impossibility to actually recreate without gills.)
I'm not sure this movie will have a lot of crossover appeal. But if you saw the long trailer and thought you might like it, see it. It does what it advertises without disappointment.
