Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page) doesn't fit in. In her tiny hometown of Bodeen, Texas, she's a bit of an oddball, wearing vintage Stryper shirts and alternative clothing. Her mom, Brooke (Marcia Gay Harden), is the picture perfect version of the All American Mom, being a former pageant girl herself, but that stuff just isn't for Bliss. Still, she placates her mother by participating in these pageants, although sometimes with blue hair - much to her mother's chagrin.
The only thing that keeps her from going nuts from the small-town monotony is her best friend Pash (Alia Shawkat, Arrested Development), and the girls dish about breaking free while slinging pork sandwiches at The Oink Joint. Then one fateful day in Austin, Bliss spots an intriguing group of girls dropping off flyers touting the TXRD, the Texas Roller Derby. Bliss is somewhat mesmerized by the clan and plots with Pash to sneak away one evening and go check it out and then decides to try out for the team, but lies about her true age of 17. With such wild girls on the team as Maggie Mayhem (Kristen Wiig), Smashley Simpson (Drew Barrymore), Bloody Holly (Zoe Bell) and Rosa Sparks (Eve), Bliss finds it hard to believe she could be a part of the Hurl Scouts, but she makes the cut and now has to figure out how to hide this from her family. Although her dad (Daniel Stern) is very easy-going and would probably be proud of his little girl, her mom wants Bliss to be a proper young lady and would be mortified to know she was on a roller derby team.
As one of the Hurl Scouts, now known as Babe Ruthless, Bliss quickly becomes a valuable member of the team because she is so small and can work her way to the front, while performing "The Whip" move, where her teammates whip her forward at high speed. But the Hurl Scouts are known as perpetual losers, sadly, and their chief rivals are the Holy Rollers, a winning team led by Iron Maven (Juliette Lewis) who take perverse delight in teasing the Hurl Scouts. Once the Hurl Scouts decide to crack down and actually start using the plays their coach, Razor (Andrew Wilson), has been preaching forever, they start winning! Soon, Bliss's secrets start leaking and she is fighting to keep everything under control. She eventually learns the value of not only her new friends, but the family she already has.
The Blu-ray version looks and sounds terrific, especially when you are watching the girls on the track, and the surround sound smacks you in the side of the head, just like these chicks would do if they were here in reality. Special features are few and far between, but I enjoyed what was there. There are 9 deleted scenes, plus a quick featurette on how writer Shauna Cross came up with the story from her personal experiences. I do wish there had been a featurette on the stunts, since they were awesome, and maybe some behind the scenes with Drew, because she did a fantastic job as director, but sadly there weren't.
Whip It is a wild tale of the self-discovery of a young woman who begins the film as quiet and diminutive, but bursts out of her shell to become a powerhouse in control of her own fate. Ellen Page is wonderful as Bliss and she is so believable in her role, but truly, the entire cast is great. The action is fast and furious while the girls are on the track and they look like they are really taking these hits, but there's a lot more to the story than simply action shots. If you like any of the actors who play in this movie, check it out. It's a really fun flick and one I highly recommend. In a word, awesome.
