Whip It Blu-ray
Ellen Page stars as a rough and tumble roller derby girl by night and a mild mannered school girl with a job at the local diner by day while trying to juggle both worlds and keep her parents in the dark about her extracurricular activities.
Film making 23/25
Video 23/25
Audio 21/25
Bonus Features 5/25
Total 72/100
Don’t judge a book by it’s cover, a movie by it’s case or this movie by its rating; Whip It just misses the mark of being as good as Juno but is a must see film in the end. Whip It is Drew Barrymore’s directorial début but she does not have a leading role, she plays Smashley Simpson a supporting actress role.
Ellen Page of Juno fame stars as Bliss Cavendar, a high school senior working hard at not fitting in while her mother has aspirations of a beauty queen in Bliss’ future. Bliss just wants to be a normal teen going through life and her mother pushes her to attend pageants hoping she will succeed in the beauty queen circuit where she did not.
Bliss sees some roller derby women at a thrift store in Austin and picks up a flyer for their upcoming event so Bliss and her friend drive to Austin to attend. Bliss talks with some of the derby women after the derby and they egg her on to try out for the derby.
Bliss being only 17 is too young to officially be a member of any of the derby teams but she lies and says she is 22 so she gets a tryout with the Hurl Scouts. Bliss hides the fact that she joined a derby league in nearby Austin and her parents think she is studying for the SAT test she says she will be taking soon.
Small town Bodeen, Texas sets the stage for the very predictable get me out of this small town coming of age comedy but the film is very likable. Ellen Page plays the perfect small town girl who has aspirations other than what her mother has her heart set on and you can see the writing on the wall with this film.
Whip It may be the very predictable girl finds a fun past time that her parents would kill her if they found out only to eventually find out about. The father who is all for his little girl finding out for herself what she wants in life encourages her but her mother at first hates it but later gives in.
Mom eventually comes around and instead of going off to pageants Bliss tells mom she wants to move to Austin and continue to roller derby in her off time. The film may be the predictable and even common theme but between Ellen Page and her do or die attitude along with other factors the film really works.
Ellen Page continues her I don’t want to be a prima donna from previous films and turns her nose up at social mores and what people expect from her. She really does a great job of showing she can be the cute small town girl and still be ruthless and hard core in the rink.
The film also does a great job of making you feel the actors believe in their roles and are trying their best to show the emotion and feeling behind their motivations. The film just works well and has that all around feel that everything was working great; great story, gifted actresses and good direction for an overall good movie that is entertaining.
Whip It Blu-ray only has one thing that takes the score down and that’s the lack of bonus content which only contains a quick interview from the writer Shauna Cross and deleted scenes. The bonus content is the only thing bringing down this Blu-ray feature as the video and audio are great with good audio and even better video.
The transfer to Blu-ray went extremely well with good color, no technical problems and very well done filming and an especially great color scheme. The uniforms of the Hurl Scouts are a nice subdued green while the red blood repeatedly running out of Drew Barrymore’s nose in several scenes is the bright but deep red of real blood.
Other parts of the film like skin color are great and the overall image is crisp and clear which makes for an enjoyable film. This is just how good Blu-ray can be and shows not only the well followed story but the technical aspects were carefully tended too.
Audio is also well done but not as outstanding as video with DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround sound and the usual variety of subtitles. The audio is also crisp and clear with well done surround and great crowd effects in the derby scenes.
The audio has the usual great, clear voice squarely centered in the front with background noise well positioned all around using rear speakers. The rear use is not as strong as it could have been which is the main reason for a slight downgrade from the almost perfect audio of Whip It.
Whip It is a great film and one of those classic stories that has everything in it that just works well in all aspects. The film has that special touch that producers, directors and financial backers strive for and is more often than not elusive in the film industry.
While Whip It may not reach Oscar gold it is a great film and well worth owning for your movie collection as a fun film with a great and happy ending.