Whip It: Good

Sometimes we like to take a break from the contemporary action comedies and black and white obscurities to see something just plain good. For example: Whip It.

In Drew Barrymore's directorial debut, Ellen Page plays a 17-year girl in a small Texas town. Her mother wants her to be a beauty queen, but she's a little too indie rock for that. On a shopping trip to Austin, she sees a flyer for the local Roller Derby girls - the Hurl Scouts - and it becomes her dream. Her best friend, a spunky Wendie Jo Sperber-type played by Alia Shawkat, helps her steal away and join the team.

Now, I'm not sure which calls for more suspension of disbelief - that Ellen Page could pass for 22 when she's supposed to be 17 in the movie, or that someone whose last pair of skates had "Barbie" could become the star of the Derby in a few short weeks. Well, Page the actress is 22, so that works ok, and it is established that the Hurl Scouts suck, so maybe it doesn't take much to become their star.

None of this really bother me - nor that a shy smalltown kid gets the cute guy who tours with an indie band. We believe Page can do anything. I haven't seen her in Juno, but she's great here: beautiful in a quiet way, like Janeane Garafolo, smart, mixed up but determined. And she doesn't get a lot of clever lines like some of the kid's comedies lately (Easy A, Juno?). She just seems nice - and so do her parents, friends and even the destructo roller derby maidens.

Yes, I've saved the best for last. There isn't a lot of skating in this movie (but you could say the same for Rollerball), but what there is, is choice. The other skaters, including one played by Barrymore and several played by real skaters plus Kirsten Wiig and Juliette Lewis, are all great, goofy, nasty and fun.

Special shout-out to Zoe Bell, the stuntwoman featured in Double Dare. She stunted for Xena and Uma Thurman in Kill Bill, now she's getting some face on camera time. Good to see her.