Review: Whip It

Arrrghhh!  Fool am I who thought I would be able to muster up a post a day for the remainder of October!  I hate to admit it, but I really haven't been all that busy these past few days.  The problem is, when I'm not busy a dark cloud of depression descends upon me, as I begin to believe my idleness is a result of personal misconduct, or worse, utter incompetence.  The result:  I withdraw into myself and seek out comfort in the form of movies.  

(Some of my most comforting movies:  Grease, The House Bunny, Ferris Bueller's Day Off,  The Sound of Music, Some Like It Hot, The Blues Brothers, Gone With the Wind, and, for some reason, Lost in Translation.  I could go on.)

It must have been fate, then, that the one new movie I saw at the theatre during this period will probably be counted among my top ten comfort movies of all time - once I've watched it about a dozen more times, that is.  

Whip It was directed by Drew Barrymore, whom I have been a fan of for many, many years.  In fact, I should probably add Ever After and Riding In Cars With Boys to my list of favourite comfort movies.  It's nice to see more women directors, who, let's face it, are few and far between in the patriarchal sausage fest that is Hollywood.  The best thing is, this movie is really good!  

The always charming Ellen Page plays Bliss Cavendar, an indie misfit attempting to survive adolescence at her oh-so-conventional high school in small town Texas.  On a trip to Austin, she befriends a tough but lovable group of roller derby girls, and finds that she has a natural talent for the sport.  Bliss must find a way to reconcile her love of roller derby with the demands of her mother, who believes that winning beauty pageants is the key to success in life.  Sure the plot is predictable, but sometimes you just NEED a predictable plot.  There's a certain safety in familiarity, in anticipating what will come next while sitting back and enjoying the antics of colourful, likable characters.

Go see Whip It, especially if you're having a bad day.  It'll cheer you right up, I promise!