Bliss Cavender feels trapped in her small Texas town, but all that changes when she meets a ragtag group of roller derby girls. Check out Kidzworld’s review of Whip It on DVD!
Bliss Cavender feels trapped in her small Texas town, but all that changes when she meets a ragtag group of roller derby girls. Check out Kidzworld’s review of Whip It on DVD!
Whip It Rating:
While her faded beauty queen mom drags Bliss Cavender through pageant after pageant, Bliss dreams of a world outside her small Texas hometown. Between waitressing shifts at the Oink Joint, Bliss sneaks off to the big city (aka Austin, Texas) and discovers the joys of an all-girls roller derby league.
Awesome Alias
Bliss has to lie about her age to join the Hurl Scouts, but her mad skills on the roller rink end up wowing the whole league. A big part of roller derby is coming up with an awesome nickname. Taking inspiration from her teammates—who names are Maggie Mayhem, Rosa Sparks, Bloody Holly and Smashley Simpson—Bliss adopts the bad girl name of Babe Ruthless.
Beauty Queen Or Rink Ruler?
Bliss manages to keep the roller derby from her mom, but trouble arises when the championship match is scheduled for the same night as one of Bliss’ beauty pageants. Bliss has to find a way to please her mom while staying true to herself—and fast!
Special Features
The Whip It DVD comes up a bit short in the extras department. You get eight deleted scenes and an alternate ending and the blu-ray comes with a writer’s draft with Shauna Cross, the author of Derby Girl (the book upon which the movie is based), but that's about it. Maybe they'll be a special edition that comes out later!
The Bottom Line
Whip It may seem like just a girls movie, but the themes—finding yourself through sports, feeling suffocated in a small town—are relatable for guys and girls. Drew Barrymore does a great job on her directing debut, Ellen Page brings some nuance to her character and the supporting cast—including funny girl, Kristin Wiig—get some well-deserved screen time.
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