JIM reviews film “WHIP IT!” -- Don’t skip it if you want a Snippet of Skating Fun.

“WHIP IT!” — Don’t skip it if you want a Snippet of Skating Fun.

Rating: 7 of 10 stars (based on an advance screening).

Besides directing her first film here, Drew Barrymore also cast herself as one of the Roller Derby skaters performing in Austin, TX. The star of the film is ELLEN PAGE as 17-year-old Bliss, who works as a waitress with her friend Pash (ALIA SHAWKAT). She has no great goals in life, but she knows she DOESN’T want to follow in the footsteps of her mother (MARCIA GAY HARDEN) who pushes her to be a Beauty Show contestant as she was. Her sports-loving father (DANIEL STERN) tends to be more supportive of her.

Ellen chances to go with Alia to a ROLLER DERBY in town, &, fascinated by it, decides to keep it from her parents that she’s secretly trying out for a SPOT on the perennially-losing Scouts team. She’s their fastest skater, & assumes an aggressive ‘stage’ name ‘Babe’ (like KRISTEN WIIG is ‘Maggie Mayhem’, ZOE BELL is ‘Bloody Holly’, DREW is ‘Smashley Simpson’, JULIETTE LEWIS is ‘Iron Maven’, ARI GRAYNOR is ‘Eva Destruction’, & the coach ‘Razor’ is played by ANDREW WILSON).

Bit by bit, the team starts to improve thanks to Ellen. She has a romantic interlude with handsome band singer Oliver (LANDON PIGG), & there’s a not-unexpected confrontation with her parents when they find out what she’d been doing with her time.

Overall, while some might find it a bit ‘fluffy’, it’s an enjoyable coming-of-age type film, altho Ellen starts out as almost overly ‘delicate’ as a character & the script is frequently somewhat weak. As a lady friend commented to me, the film was clearly aimed at WOMEN more than men, & is basically accurate in the way it portrays Ellen as a young woman who works hard to AVOID being just the person her mother is, & to show her ‘independence’ as she grows up.