My look into select Searchlight Pictures films continues. This one is interesting in that it’s a sports movie but has that indie feel to it. What I mean by that is that it doesn’t focus on a team per say, but one of those films that is about getting independence. Little did I know that actress Drew Barrymore directed it and I only ever heard about it when she hosted Steven Spielberg in her Netflix talk show. And for a debut, it isn’t bad at all. More so that I’m surprised that she hasn’t picked up the camera more often.
1. Bliss from Bodeen
So yeah, this is the first time that I watched it after hearing about it in Drew Barrymore’s show. I think it’s one of those things where at the time it didn’t interest me unless I was curious enough to watch it. This is one of those instances where if there’s something playing on HBO or something different, I’ll tune in or go straight to on demand. I guess it’s human nature, but it comes as a bonus to finally be exposed to something and to appreciate it later.
Surprisingly, there’s a lot of background to this movie. I think this is the first time where the manuscript to the book was being optioned to different studios and the book itself was finding a publisher. Shauna Cross wrote the source titled Derby Girl and I’ll credit her with being ambitious enough to go the extra mile of getting her book and movie adaptation in some fashion. I think that maneuver is basically what the whole film represents.
We follow Elliot Page as Bliss Cavender, she’s a rebellious teenager who participates in beauty pageants due to her mother pressuring her. During a visit in Austin, she sees an ad about the local roller derby team. Inevitably, she sneaks in and watches the roller derby in action. Soon she joins the team dubbed the Hurl Scouts as she juggles her personal life and the team.
There’s a lot to like about this movie, especially with Bliss as she’s the black sheep in the beauty pageant community. It’s very clear in the beginning that she’s not like the other girls that she’s competing against. Right down to her blue hair that she wants to be more than what she’s told and to make her way. These kinds of stories get me interested in seeing he main character since we empathize with her and see how she can handle being in a new environment. Especially since she has a friend that is her connective tissue to her small town.
Elliot Page does a good job portraying Bliss as she’s a vastly different rebel than what we saw in Juno. In this film, Bliss is way more sympathetic since she gets herself involved with something that is completely beyond her since she’s willing to try out roller derby. I was surprised that since a sport is involved, it had those moments where Bliss sees a boy named Oliver who is obviously the prize that Bliss thinks she wants. And what I mean by that is since Bliss is in a team, she’s on a quest to be independent and Oliver is her prize for going through the ringer.
While I’ll talk about the team that she’s in, I will say that Barrymore didn’t make the film with gloss at all. Meaning that, there’s a certain grit that comes to it when we see the roller derby. Most of the camera shots have it where the action is like being on the track and cutting to the shots where it’s from the audience perspective. It’s all great since we have those moments where the actresses fall, stumble and even get body checked and it’s just brutal seeing Bliss get put through the ringer.
2. Hurl Scouts
The main highlight of the film is seeing the Hurl Scouts perform the sport of Roller Derby and seeing the motley crew of women who make up the team. One thing that makes them endearing is that they’re the perpetual losers. Losing consecutive matches and all the while having a rallying cry of shouting “We’re Number Two!” Seeing Kirsten Wiig as the mentor to Bliss is one of those moments where it’s like another motherly figure to the young kid.
They all have that spunk to them where they are hesitant on Bliss but inevitably stick with her as she helps the team win. I think in more way, having Cavender be in the team helps her with her sense of independence. Having her be in the exact opposite situation of what she’s been exposed to gives her the confidence to be who she wants to be. They all have that punk edge to them since they don’t have matching uniforms but have their own style of representing the team.
It’s a very unorthodox sports movie when you get down to it, since this focuses on an obscure sport such as Roller Derby. And I’m glad that the film literally goes out of its way to explain the simple rules to it since I doubt anyone thinks that the sport is real and the exact rules to the vexing sport. The action as I said is like you’re in the team, and I like that there’s the moments where Bliss must try harder to have her team finally accept her.
One would think that since Bliss is on the team that they manage to win the obligatory championship in the end. With a lot of great sports films, this should easily belong on the list of films that the team doesn’t win a championship. And I like that it’s not really the whole point in the greater context. It’s about the main character finally paving her own road and having her family finally accept who she is. Just overall endearing and probably one of my favorite Searchlight films as of now.
3. Overall
Whip It is severely underrated and should get a greater appreciation among the best sports films and best overall films of the 2000s.
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