Whip It

Drew Barrymore's directorial debut is an exuberant and heart-warming coming-of-age tale. Elliot Page (credited here as Ellen Page) is sweet and utterly believable as Bliss Cavendar, a small-town Texan girl looking for a way out of her dull life. In nearby Austin, she discovers roller derby, a form of full-contact roller-skating played by women with nicknames such as Maggie Mayhem (Kristen Wiig) and Smashley Simpson (Barrymore). It's not long before Bliss (now known as Babe Ruthless) becomes a member of the league's underdog team, the Hurl Scouts, and starts to make her dreams come true. But she's only 17 and has to lie to her conservative parents about what she's up to, while also facing hostility from rival team leader Iron Maven (an intense Juliette Lewis). What follows often lapses into the predictable, as the Hurl Scouts discover that teamwork brings results and Bliss begins an inevitable romance with a drippy wannabe rock star. But Barrymore excels at capturing the strength of female friendships and the sense of empowerment that doing something you love brings, making it hard not to be moved by the irrepressible sense of fun and optimism on display here.