Theater Hopper
About Links Store Contact Thorum

Posts Tagged ‘Marcia Gay Harden’

1 item.
Oct02

WHIP IT GOOD

October 2nd, 2009 | by Tom
  • Comics
1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars6 Stars7 Stars8 Stars9 Stars10 Stars
(17 votes, average: 6.00 out of 10)
WHIP IT GOOD

On Monday I talked a little bit about seeing a sneak preview of Whip It! last Saturday. I promised a review at some point. A review the never came. So, instead, you get this comic and I’ll kind of splice in portions of the review I was going to write here in the blog post.

I think I said on Monday that Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut has a certain level of enthusiasm that I think can be attributed by Barrymore’s usual rah-rah “Girl Power” mantra. Despite being a film about hard-nosed roller derby chicks, the film is optimistic and sunny.

Ellen Page as the film’s heroine is serviceable. Her character is a mousy beauty pageant competitor by day and a roller derby chick by night. Unfortunately, she doesn’t really fit into either of those roles very well.

To me she seems too sharp, her wit to acerbic, to be some mousy teen bullied into pageant life by an overbearing mother. Conversely, she doesn’t have the physical presence to skate around a rink and throw elbows.

The film explains away some of the later by acknowledging Page’s pocket-sized physique. Her roller derby alter-ego “Babe Ruthless” gets by on her speed and agility and less on her right hook.

Still, I think it would have been interesting to see someone like Kat Dennings in the role. Then I might have found the dichotomy between pageant queen and roller girl a little more believable.

As I mentioned in the comic, the cast for this film is amazing. Not just for the depth of the semi-recognizable names, but for the variety. In what other film are you going to see the stunt woman from Death Proof roller skate with the female rapper who was once First Lady of Ruff Ryders?

Gotta give points to the casting director for bringing Juliette Lewis into the mix. Sinewy, snide and possibly smelly, Lewis fits perfectly into the role of Page’s riot grrl nemesis.

Special acknowledgment, however, I think needs to be given to Kristen Wiig, who finally stepped out from behind the Nervous Nellie persona she’s perfected on Saturday Night Live and in supporting roles from films like Adventureland and Knocked Up.

Despite the eccentricity of being a roller derby competitor, Wiig plays her character like a normal, everyday person. At this point, playing someone normally was probably the most shocking thing she could do!

Story-wise, there’s nothing in Whip It! that you haven’t seen in a thousand other coming-of-age comedies. Basically, an awkward girl finds something she’s passionate about and comes out of her shell in opposition to her parents wishes. Do the parents come around at the end? Of course. Are valuable life lessons learned? You betcha.

But like I said, there’s a positive vibe reverberating off this movie and a certain zest of life to the characters. The live their lives on the fringe of society in an already liberal-minded alternate reality known as Austin, Texas. They skate in abandoned warehouses under pseudonyms, get drunk and listen to loud music. Their exploits are liberating and we, the audience, get to live vicariously through that.

That’s pretty much the role of any good movie. If you can watch the characters on screen and say “I wanna hang out with them,” or “I wanna do that,” then there has been some transformative effect that has allowed you to transcend whatever hang-ups or stress is waiting for you back in the real world. By that measure, Whip It! is a rollicking success.

So what about you? Any plans to hang out with Smashly Simpson and The Hurl Scouts this weekend? Does Whip It! look like a film that interests you? Did any of you manage to catch the sneak preview on Saturday? If so, what did you think? Leave your comments below!

└ Tags: Alia Shawkat, Drew Barrymore, Ellen Page, EVE, Juliette Lewis, Kristen Wiig, Marcia Gay Harden, roller derby, sneak preview, sports, Whip It!, Will Ferrell, Zoe Bell
[ 14 Comments ]

Archives

    Tweets by @tombrazelton
    • The Comic
    • The Author
    • The Cast
    • Supporting
      Theater Hopper
    • Press
    • Ranked Comics
    • Year Three Backers
    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Tag Cloud

    Adam Sandler advertising announcement auction Ben Affleck buzzComix Charlie Christmas costume death dream dress up DVD fire first appearance Guest Strip Halloween help Hollywood Iron Man Iron Man 2 Jimmy Joe and Monkey Joe Dunn Nothing Nice to Say Oscar Oscars Pixar podcast punch review Robert Downey Jr. Shia LaBeouf Spider-Man store theater The Triple Feature Top Web Comics trailer Truman Victor vote voting Wizard World Chicago Zach Miller
    HOME | ABOUT | LINKS | STORE | CONTACT | TOP RATED
    THEATER HOPPER by Tom Brazelton - The internet's longest running movie-themed webcomic. Updating every Monday, Wednesday and Friday since 2002. All content © Tom Brazelton, Theater Hopper Inc. 2002 - 2009 unless otherwise noted. Please seek author's permission before reproduction. // Privacy Policy

    Integrated by Frumph |Powered by WordPress with ComicPress |Subscribe: RSS