Whip Tt Movie

Whip Tt Movie

It,” starring the likes of the Oscar winning Ellen Page, Marcia Gay Harden, Kristen Wiig, Juliette Lewis, Jimmy Fallon, Daniel Stern and Barrymore herself. The movie has released on the Oct. 2. However, it is not her on-screen romancing that has her in the news for this movie. The “E.T.” star has honed her behind the camera skills and donned the director’s cap for “Whip It”. The comedy drama has Ellen Page essaying the role of the misfit Bliss Cavender, who puts up a tough resistance against her mom’s constant insistence to take part in beauty pageants. She however joins in the Roller Derby league, where she thinks she fits in perfectly. Barrymore has reportedly told the Couriermail, “I always wanted to direct so this is a very wonderful moment for me. I’ve found something very personal and got to put my whole heart in to it.” Her achievements have always been very laudable. Over the years, growing up in front of the public eyes and intense media scrutiny, she has developed from the adorable little Gertie in E.T. to be one among the top ranked actresses in Hollywood. Now, with her directorial debut, she is all set to tread that extra mile.

In between running around for the busy schedule of all the promotional campaigns she is attending for “Whip It,” Barrymore was seen going the easy and low maintenance way, dressed in the “bad lady” attire. The 34 year old actress was spotted in and around the New York City, running errands by squeezing in some time in between talk show appearances. Even more improbably, it stars Ellen Page, the petite, smart-mouthed star of “Juno,” which is a little like a movie about Michael Cera going for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Ol’ Juno MacGuff as a derby queen? Those jocks spit bigger than she is. The gulf between the dream and the reality could be a large part of the humor in “Whip It.” Unfortunately, there isn’t much comedy in the movie at all.
Instead, it just recycles ideas from quirkier indie comedies (the beauty pageants, the schlocky minimum-wage jobs) and more mainstream young romances (the “sensitive” new boyfriend, the follow-your-dream bromides). It’s as if Napoleon Dynamite and Little Miss Sunshine strapped on skates and sailed right into some pat Hollywood comedy. That’s too bad, because Barrymore .

But “Whip It” just moves blandly along, right up to the inevitable “gag” reel under the final credits. The derby scenes are filmed in such tight closeups that we miss out on the plays the women are working so hard to execute; Bliss’ conflicts with her best friend, her new boyfriend and her parents are so obvious they could write themselves. True, the derby dames’ stage names — “Bloody Holly,” “Eva Destruction,” “Smashley Simpson” — are more fun than a roomful of drag queens. The always courageously eccentric Juliette Lewis is terrific as the evil “Dinah Might,” and after her SNL hamming, Kristen Wiig gives a refreshingly restrained comic performance as “Malice in Wonderland.” But Page never convinces as “Babe Ruthless,” her team’s new star. As her emo boyfriend, Oliver, Landon Pigg is, well, just as smoothly charming as his name. And if Barrymore really wanted to do a movie about empowerment — “girls getting to do what boys do,” as she told Time Out New York — why make the team’s bossy coach a man?
Points go to Lewis for bringing all of her fixed-stare intensity to a typical villainous part and elevating it. And credit is owed to some of the supporting performers, including Barrymore who, modestly, settles for playing one of the lesser athletes. But like the sport itself, this movie goes in circles. In the end, it hardly matters who wins.