Monday Movie: Whip It! by @Satanspuppet

Drew Barrymore in the directors chair? For the first time? You wouldn't think it while watching this film. Yes, there may be some shots that could have been done better, but it's a well-crafted film that brings together an amazing cast and keeps a wholeness that is part movie cliché and part tingly magic.

This coming-of-age piece with a difference sees Ellen Page playing a 17-year-old emo/punk wannabe who finds her feet in a world of grunge and roller skates. Marcia Gay Harden is her fallen-from-grace mother, once one of the greats on the beauty pageant circuit, but now trapped as a dowdy housewife. Harden does a superb job of leading her daughter down the road not taken, however, everyone must forge their own destiny, and Page rebels by pursuing a career as a Roller Derby star.

There are some inspired moments of comedy, including a line about fondling that made my friend choke on his popcorn for several minutes. but they all happen on the roller rink, while Page's home life is where the drama lies. In the end, though you are left wishing that the comedy would be the constant. I kept longing to see Barrymore or Juliette Lewis punch another girl in the face.

The film is a great little number and well worth the watch for the cast alone, who do a fantastic job all round, especially Page, Lewis and Harden. Even stunt actress Zoe Bell, whose less than favourable acting in Death Proof has started to refine itself in the small but vocal part she plays in Whip It.

Despite Barrymore's attempts to be original, the film follows a tried-and-tested formula, but, although it can be predictable at times, it's worth a watch.