'Whip It'

'Whip It' (PG-13) ***1/2

Writer: Shauna Cross based on her novel "Derby Girl"
Director: Drew Barrymore
Starring: Ellen Page, Marcia Gay Harden, Kristen Wiig, Juliette Lewis, Zoe Bell, Eve, Andrew Wilson, Alia Shawkat, Landon Pigg, Jimmy Fallon,Daniel Stern.

In every movie essay I have written in the past years I am always mentioning how there are no strong roles for women in films. I would think men would love to watch strong and beautiful women characters in movies and I know women do but Hollywood doesn't. It is like they are afraid of a strong woman who is determined to find their place in the World and go for their goals and dreams. Well watch out now for it is with Drew Barrymore's "Whip It" that there are a plethora of strong women in a movie that grew on me more so a day after I saw it. Barrymore's direction is a little shaky sometimes but her storytelling skills are great. Also it helps that the screenplay by Shauna Cross has two amazing lead characters played by two of the best actresses working today. Ellen Page with "Hard Candy", "Juno" and now "Whip It" is proving she is an amazing actress and maybe the best young actress working currently. She nails this role perfectly as a girl trying to find her identity and finally does as she finds a family and a purpose with the World of Roller Derby. Playing her mother is Marcia Gay Harden who film after film amazes me. The lead characters could have come off as cliches but Page and Harden are so good at creating flesh and blood characters. They are helped by the amazing Kristen Wiig and boy do I love Kristen Wiig! She is kind of a mother figure to the Page character and there is a scene between them that is so tender and great that hopefully Wiig gets the Academy Award nomination she deserves. She gets her first fully realized role of her career and I want to see her on the Oscar telecast.

The rest of the supporting cast is great including the very sexy and strong Zoe Bell who was amazing in "Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof", Juliette Lewis who is back in a major way as the evil antagonist (I saw Juliette Lewis in concert recently and her sex appeal is still strong). There is a great breakout role by Alia Shawkat as Page's best friend, a funny Jimmy Fallon and the best performance by a Wilson brother in ages in Andrew Wilson. I have been to Roller Derbies in Chicago and this movie nails it creating everything involved with it flawlessly. Also local musician Landon Pigg feels real as Page's love interest for I really believed the courtship of the two. Drew Barrymore also gives herself a small role and she is good and you can tell her heart went into telling this story. There is great action, hot women and characters we care for in a strange way. I had a good time watching this and there is an incredible and real scene at the end between Harden and Page. Watch this scene and you will be watching two amazing actresses stripping down this scene to a beautiful conclusion that felt like real life. The derby names these women are given are real and very clever like the names the girls have in the real Derby world. I loved watching Page, Harden, Wiig, Lewis, Bell and they are a big part of why I loved this movie and why I could watch it again. I am a fan of pro wrestling and there is a common theme that is shared by Roller Derby and it is men and women putting their bodies on the line to entertain others. Also the familial bond that runs through the two is strong. I liked the sense of family in this movie and the journey that the main character goes on. I wanted her to find a feeling of self worth and confidence and to achieve her dream and mostly because Page is amazing to watch and Shauna Cross has created a girl we can root for. I think teenage girls and women of every age will find this empowering. It is perceived mostly in this male dominated World that women are second class citizens but this movie proves the opposite and I think it is more powerful than you think it is on the first viewing. It is also a fun time and it has more stronger women characters than in dozens of movies in the past few years. I just am frustrated by the lack of good leading roles for women in movies and this movie really satisfied me. I think men will also be surprised by how much they like this for it is not just a chick flick (I hate that term). "Whip It" may not be one of the best movies of the year but it is one of my favorites.