Whip It (2009)

Whip It is a 2009 American sports comedy-drama film written by Shauna Cross, based on her novel Derby Girl. The film is directed and co-produced (with Barry Mendel) by Drew Barrymore in her directorial debut. It stars Ellen Page as a teenager from the fictional town of Bodeen, Texas, who joins a roller derby team. It also stars Barrymore, Alia Shawkat, Marcia Gay Harden, Daniel Stern, Carlo Alban, Landon Pigg, Jimmy Fallon, Kristen Wiig, Zoë Bell, Eve, Andrew Wilson, Juliette Lewis and Ari Graynor. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 13, 2009 and was theatrically released on October 2, 2009 in the United States by Fox Searchlight Pictures. The film received generally positive reviews from critics but was a box office disappointment, making $16.6 million worldwide against its $15 million budget. The film was rated PG-13 for sexual content including crude dialogue, language and drug material. Whip It was released on DVD and Blu-ray in January 26, 2010 by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.

Synopsis

Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page) is a misfit in the small town of Bodeen, Texas, with no sense of direction in her life. Her mother, Brooke (Marcia Gay Harden), a former beauty queen, pushes her to enter beauty pageants despite her lack of interest. During a shopping trip to Austin with her mother, Bliss encounters three roller derby team members and finds herself intrigued by the sport in which teams and players are given pun names that highlight the violent aspect of the sport. Intrigued, she and her friend Pash attend a roller derby bout under the pretense of going to a football game, where they see the "Holy Rollers" defeat the "Hurl Scouts", a perennially unsuccessful derby team.

Actors