October 15th, 2009 2:02 am

Whip It

No, its not a Devo retrospective – it’s roller derby with plenty of “you go girl”. So just how well does Drew Barrymore’s long awaited directorial debut fare?

Many would have thought at some point in her career so far that Drew Barrymore would have directed at least one film. She has her own production company, starred in over 50 films and worked many of Hollywood’s most famous. But she actually hasn’t – until now.

While in many ways this would seem like a very low-key choice for a directorial debut, its easy to see why Drew took the helm. Of course, obscure sports movies are nothing new – the “boy’s club” perspective has been well and truly run into the ground thanks to the Will Ferrell’s of the world. But with its colourful dose girl power and teen movie smarts, Whip It is a whole other kind of ball game… in that, its not actually about a ball game at all.

It’s about roller derby; you’d be forgiven for not knowing anything about the game. Its as niche as it gets; even when the rules are explained, you’ll still be scratching your head at exactly how it works. While the game certainly is central to the plot, you can get by without the exact details of what is going on. And thankfully, its not really the point of the movie. As emblazend on the one-sheet, its about being your own hero. In this case, straping on the skates, blowing off the pagent-obsessed mother and taking down the competition in on the track is what it takes to be a hero.

All the girl power gusto definatly gives this all the more authenticity, but generally though its the predictability of the character arcs and the whole plot in general that keeps this from being as engaging as it should be. Whip It goes to great lengths to get have a good time thanks to its free-wheeling tone, but the more serious moral moments ever so slightly undermines the well-intentioned messages. Put it down to Shauna adapting her own novel to the screenplay.

Thankfully, Barrymore has been around the traps long enough to learn a few things, and it comes out in the traditional direction. But for a simple film, there is no need for flashy and it works in her favour. She’s also not afraid to get into the race during derby scenes which works quite well too.

Casting is pretty much spot on. Indie darling Page taps into her usual sardonic characteristics for leading lady Bliss; this is a walk in the park after Juno. Harden is also great as the pagent obssesed mother.

Drew putting herself into the film in a rather prominent slapstick role as one of the team members seems a little forced, but she’s careful enough to steal the scenes necessary and stand back at other times. Lewis in particular is great as arch nemesis Iron Maven, likewise Arrested Development’s Shawkat as Bliss’ archtypical BFF.

For all the minor quibbles, Whip It still remains a charming little movie mostly thanks to its reliability on convention. It balances the right attitude, the right cast and the right director with conviction, and maintains its infectious, fun feeling throughout. Which is more than can be said about most churned out teen movies of recent times.