‘Whip It’ elbows 1970s roller derby films aside

Thanks to the popularity of roller rinks and disco music, the 1970s spawned the roller derby film – entertaining action movies which starred the likes of Raquel Welch (Kansas City Bomber) and James Caan (Rollerball). In her directorial debut Whip It, Drew Barrymore captures the recent revival of women's competitive roller skating and whips the genre into shape for the 21st century.
 
The women's roller derby films of the 1970s – which also included The Unholy Rollers starring Claudia Jennings, and Xanadu with Olivia Newton-John - were often just as gritty as Whip It but were often accused of hypocrisy. While there was plenty of bruised flesh, fishnet tights and short skirts on display, those films condemned the sport as redneck and somewhat crass.
 
In contrast Barrymore and Whip It screenwriter Shauna Cross - who has adapted her own semi-autobiographical novel Derby Girl for the big screen - have recreated the roller girls' camaraderie while not shying away from the sport's more violent and visceral aspects.
 
Juno star Ellen Page plays Texas teen Bliss Cavendar who rejects the Barbie-style beauty pageants her mother wants for her and joins a women's roller derby team whose members include 'Bloody Holly' and 'Smashley Simpson' (Barrymore in a cameo role).
 
Part sports movie and part coming-of-age story, Whip It may not be radical but it does offer some unexpected plot twists while elbowing the old-school roller derby films aside.
 
WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING:
 
Kim Newman, Empire: "As a sports movie and as a mixed-up teen flick, it keeps taking unexpected turns, and unlike so many in the former genre, remembers there's more to sport dramas than just winning." (4/5 stars)

Xan Brooks, the Guardian: "[Whip It is] a join-the-dots sports outing that's so brightly played - and so essentially sweet-natured – that its manifest cliches come up smelling of fresh paint." (3/5 stars)

Anthony Quinn, the Independent: "What's also refreshing about Whip It is the unAmerican emphasis on enjoying the sport's camaraderie, even if you're not natural winners: Bliss's team of wannabe champs seem destined to be merely OK. A bit like this film." (3/5 stars)

Roger Ebert, the Chicago Sun-Times: "Yes, the movie has cliches. Yes, it all leads up to a big game. Yes, there is a character's validating appearance near the end. Yes, and so what? The movie is miles more intelligent than most of the cream-of-wheat marketed to teenage girls." (3.5/4 stars)
 
David Jenkins, Time Out: "Taken as a florid celebration of female solidarity, the film is commendable, if hardly radical. But in the final reel... a more discerning and emotionally substantial film emerges." (4/5 stars) ·