Whip It (2009)

In Bodeen, Texas, an indie-rock loving misfit finds a way of dealing with her small-town misery after she discovers a roller derby league in nearby Austin.

Director:

Drew Barrymore

Writers:

Shauna Cross (screenplay), Shauna Cross (novel)

Stars:

Ellen Page, Drew Barrymore, Kristen Wiig

8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sarah Habel	...	Corbi
Shannon Eagen	...	Amber
Edward Austin Kelly	...	Pageant Coordinator
Mary Callaghan Lynch	...	Val
Ellen Page	...	Bliss Cavendar
Jimmy Fallon	...	'Hot Tub' Johnny Rocket
Alia Shawkat	...	Pash
Marcia Gay Harden	...	Brooke Cavendar
Barbara Coven	...	Pageant Mother
Eulala Scheel	...	Shania Cavendar
Nina Kircher	...	Trudy
Daniel Stern	...	Earl Cavendar
Mark Boyd	...	Ronny
Carlo Alban	...	Birdman
Douglas Minckiewicz	...	Colby (as Doug Minckewicz)

Storyline

In a town near Austin, Bliss Cavendar's strong-willed mom believes Bliss, at 17, can win pageants - the key to a happy life. Bliss isn't the beauty pageant type: she's shy, quiet, and has just one friend, Pash, her fellow waitress at a diner. Things change for Bliss when she discovers a women's roller derby league in Austin, tries out, proves to be whip fast, and makes a team. Now she needs to become someone tough on the rink, keep her parents from finding out where she goes twice a week, and do something about a first crush, on a musician she meets at the derby. Meanwhile, mom still sees Bliss as Miss Bluebonnet. Things are on a collision course; will everyone get banged up?

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Plot Keywords:

pageant | friend | beauty pageant | texas | roller derby | 

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Taglines:

She's the hottest thing on eight wheels.

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Genres:

Drama | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sexual content including crude dialogue, language and drug material

Details

Official Sites:

Fox Searchlight [United States] Official Facebook [France]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 October 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Derby Girl

Filming Locations:

Michigan, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$4,650,812 (USA) (2 October 2009)

Gross:

$13,034,417 (USA) (4 December 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mandate Pictures, Vincent Pictures, Flower Films (II)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Filmed in several parts of Michigan including Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and Detroit. Many of the skaters in the movie are on Detroit's Derby team.

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Goofs

When Bliss finishes her last round in the first game she plays, she wears the star sash for being a jammer, then the game stops and she is shortly shown having an "honor round" without the sash, then has the sash again for the team reunion.

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Quotes

[Bliss has knocked Corbi off a stair banister at school]
Colby: You can't do that!
Pash: She just di-iid!

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Crazy Credits

Bloopers run during closing credits.

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Connections

Referenced in Jeopardy!: 2010 College Championship Finals: Game 1 (2010)

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Soundtracks

Simple Truths
Written by Nick Glennie-Smith
Courtesy of APM Music

User Reviews

Awesome! Drew banged it out with this one...

Caught a preview of this and was really glad I did. The writing and characters were very genuine. There were lots of laughs and emotion and great moments you can't help but root for the girls. Drew, Ellen, Alia, Kristin, Marcia, Juliet, Eve and the rest just tore it up on the screen. It was nice to see some of these girls, like Drew & Kristin, in roles as real people as opposed to just caricature's. I never knew how roller derby was even played but now I'm gonna look for a local league to go watch - those girls rock! I ended the film feeling like I was best buds with all of them. This definitely shows that Drew will have quite a career directing and that Juno wasn't a one-hit-wonder for Ellen, either. You won't want to miss this one.